by Unknown
Ethan noticed Gideon eyeing the plates set before them and the goblets filled with wine. They would not be drinking any. The Word clearly forbade them to partake, and having their senses fouled by strong drink was never wise. Here it might prove quite fatal.
Ethan noticed a mournful whimper coming from behind them near the great stone hearth in the room. A fire burned there, and two hounds sat with eager expressions, looking at Ethan and beyond to his plate. Feeling sorry for the poor animals, forced to watch others stuffing their faces, Ethan snuck a few pieces of the meat from his plate and gave it a quick sideways toss to the dogs. They both snatched it up immediately and licked their chops gratefully.
“Gideon?� Nichols said from the head of the long table. “I wonder when we might retrieve the scrolls you’ve brought for us.�
“Forgive me, Majesty, but I am charged by the High Priest to find someone who is well able to take responsibility for them and disseminate the teachings to the population.�
Nichols seemed taken aback by the declaration. “Are you suggesting, I would be unable to carry out those duties?�
The tension in the room became instantly taut, like an over-wound psaltery string. “I assure you, Your Majesty; I meant no insult to you personally. The Order has always sought out those individuals who are inclined as we priests are. And I did not want to assume that one so busy with a new government, as you are, would take yet another weight upon his shoulders.�
Ethan watched the king’s expression soften a little. He seemed satisfied with Gideon’s placation in the matter. “Nevertheless, we will be glad to have the Word safe within these walls at your earliest opportunity,� King Nichols said. “From there we may work together to find suitable teachers who can devote themselves to diligent study and then teach others as well.�
Gideon wasn’t quite sure how to answer, but managed. “We are very grateful to you, Majesty.�
The king gave a slight nod as he forked a piece of steaming meat from his platter. “Gentlemen,� he said to the priests, “you’ve not yet touched your food. Surely, you’re famished after so long a journey across the Azure. I hope you won’t insult my hospitality.�
“Of course not, Majesty,� Ethan said and began digging into his plate with a fork. Just as he opened his mouth, ready to shove the food inside, Gideon grabbed his wrist.
“The hounds,� he whispered urgently.
Ethan turned from his plate and saw the two hounds he had fed from his plate moments ago. They lay still, their eyes rolled permanently back into their heads. Ethan gasped, realizing he and Gideon would certainly have shared that fate had he not felt sorry for the poor creatures in the first place.
The king, who had been watching them expectantly, said, “Gentlemen, your manners are poor for priests. You’re still not eating.�
They looked at one another, then they made their move.
And the king made his. “Seize them!�
Several astonishing things all happened within seconds.
Gideon leaped up out of his seat and over the table to evade the soldier immediately to his left. He grabbed a silver candlestick holder in midair, brained the man seated across from Ethan, and took his sword as he fell stunned to the stone floor.
Ethan realm shifted immediately and crossed the room, trying to get to King Nichols where he stood, shouting orders for their capture. Ethan, so bent upon his strategy, only half noticed the cold tingly shiver running up his spine. As Ethan reached Nichols, preparing to seize the man as their hostage, a horde of demons flew through the walls of stone block.
The demons saw Ethan, but instead of attacking directly, they entered the soldiers present at the dinner. He knew what that meant. The demons would be able to see him whether he was in the spiritual realm or in the physical.
A demon-laden soldier went for Gideon. He did not seem aware as he was busy fighting other men. Ethan launched forward as though shot from a cannon. He pierced the veil between physical and spiritual and landed next to Gideon in time to hammer his attacker with a kick to the ribs. The soldier flew backward out of the way. “Demons inside the soldiers!� Ethan warned.
Ethan quickly armed himself with the weapon of one of Gideon’s victims and assailed to help his friend. The soldiers took on an almost immediate ferocity, as though animals freed from their cages and set to a feeding frenzy. Ordinary men leaped through the air at the priests of Shaddai as they fought back the tide of the enemy. The bright clothing, fashioned for them, quickly became soaked with gore.
“Hold on!� Ethan shouted. He immediately realm shifted and grabbed hold of Gideon. The priest slashed at his attackers, until Ethan, unseen, yanked him up and out of the melee. He released Gideon. The priest sailed back down to the floor on the other side of the room. Ethan appeared in a run beside him. “This way!�
He ran, with Gideon following, toward the great wooden doors at the far end. Ethan remembered the throne room on the other side of those doors. From there, lay a hall leading out of the castle through the main gate. The demon-possessed soldiers ran after them, much quicker than normal men could. They had mere seconds to get through.
Ethan reached the doors first and tried to push them open, but they would not budge. Through the seam between the two doors, he saw a great wooden crossbeam holding them fast. Gideon also reached the doors and tried, but to no avail. Ethan realm shifted once again and used his sword to divide the beam through the seam—a knife through butter. He appeared with Gideon again and they pushed their way through.
Once on the other side, Ethan and Gideon struggled to close the great doors again. “We have to bar it!� Gideon said.
“This half of the crossbar is long enough, I think.�
They hoisted it up with difficulty and set it upon the iron grooves where it should rest. The doors tried to burst outward as the demon-possessed soldiers slammed into them from the banquet room. “Get the bar in!� Gideon said.
The doors began to part again as the boys struggled to get the crossbar into place. “There’s too many!�
“I’ll stop them!� Ethan said. “You get the bar into place!� He disappeared into the spiritual realm and shot through the door with his weapon forward. As soon as Ethan cleared the door, he ran into a throng of demon-possessed soldiers. They saw him and reacted, but he had enough surprise on his side to take down a few first.
Ethan fought with unbridled anger and drove them back from the door enough to allow Gideon to secure it from the other side. He heard the crossbar slide into place with a dull thump. Before the possessed soldiers reorganized their attack on him, Ethan launched back through the door and found Gideon waiting.
He patted Ethan’s shoulder with a smile of gratitude as soon as he appeared. “Nice work, brother.�
Gideon began to run for the other end of the throne room. But Ethan hesitated the slightest bit. The acknowledgement gripped his heart. Gideon had never referred to him as brother before. He smiled and followed his friend.
General Hevas Rommil massaged the back of his meaty hand through the studded leather gauntlet. He savored the pain inflicted on some of his former soldiers—men who had failed him today. They had allowed Captain Bonifast to escape from the pirate’s ship still docked in the Macedon harbor. After facing Rommil’s wrath, his soldiers had faced the executioner’s axe.
Rommil peered through a brass spyglass toward King Nichol’s castle, nearly a half mile away, and smiled. He turned to his men lined up along the ridge and the new weapons they were preparing. A line of one hundred short, metal tubes stood propped at an angle on their own stands. A short pile of self-propelled explosive shells stood next to each mortar tube and the two-man team assigned to fire each weapon.
&n
bsp; He paused to savor the moment. The pompous brat, Nichols, King of Macedon would soon breathe his last. Hevas had waited a long time for this. The charade of Nichols successful rebellion on Macedon had tarnished his unblemished record. Mordred had desired to use the man for exactly this purpose—a clever trap.
Now came the time to spring it and catch all the mice inside. Hevas raised his broadsword high. The men at each mortar station, along the ridge, prepared a shell at the mouth of the tube while their partners made any necessary adjustments to the angle of trajectory. “Goodbye, Nichols.� Hevas let the words roll off his tongue poetically. “King of Macedon.�
Levi breathed through his mouth, gulping at the air as though it might be his last. “Are you sure this is the only way into the castle?�
Seth crawled through the black slime in the dark tunnel ahead of Levi. He sighed. “Unless you want to assault the main gate, scale the sheer walls under fire, and battle through an entire battalion of soldiers.�
Levi thought a moment, shrugged, then pulled himself up the tunnel another two feet. “What is this stuff anyway?� He sniffed. “It smells like a sewer in here.�
Seth smiled in the dark. “It’s sewage.�
“It’s a good thing you can’t see the look on my face right now.�
The_ORDER_of_SHADDAI
“I have a good imagination,� Seth answered. “We do what we must in the service of the Lord, Captain, and to help of our friends.�
Levi sighed again. “True enough, but knowing that does nothing for the smell.�
The trip through the drain tunnel had been slow going over the last hour. Seth and Levi had to slog through the muck on their bellies almost the entire way due to the size of the tunnel.
Levi pulled his hand back suddenly. “Seth, I felt something wriggle across my fingers…what’s in this stuff?�
“Nothing harmful…other than that, I doubt you really want to know.�
Levi considered it. “You’re probably right.� He swallowed hard and then reached for the next handful of filth, pushing his fingers down several inches until he felt the slime covered grooves in the stones. These they used to pull themselves along inches at a time.
A draft of air filtered down the tunnel around them. Seth immediately stopped. Levi grabbed his shoe as he continued his progression. “Why did you stop, Seth? What’s wrong?�
“Listen.�
The ground shook with a sudden tremor followed by a bellow of air and a booming sound. Another quickly followed and another on top of it.
“What in the world is that?� Levi shouted. “Almost sounds like cannons!�
“Almost,� Seth said. Then he listened again as the thunder continued.
“We had better keep moving,� Levi said.
“Wait, there’s something else.�
Levi tried to discern what Seth was referring too. Then he heard it. Mad screeching from animals, only multiplied a thousand times and soaked with panic.
“Is that?�
“Lie down as flat as you can, Captain, and be sure your clothing is pulled tight to your back. Cover your nose and mouth with your hand and try not to breathe unless you absolutely have to!�
The thunder pounded through the tunnel walls even more oppressively. Levi wanted to be out of this hole now. The panic flooding down the tunnel only added to his own anxiety. He pressed against the walls, trying hopelessly to turn himself around. He had to get out of here now!
“Captain, do as I said and we may get out of this alive!� Seth pressed his body down flat into the slime and lay perfectly still.
The screeching grew in volume and intensity as the pounding continued. The pulses of air blasting through the tunnels carried the added stench of filthy living things. Things about to pour through the place where Seth and Levi lay trapped.
“Lord Shaddai, help me!� he cried and pressed his body down flat. Levi covered his mouth as Seth had instructed, shoving his face reluctantly into the disgusting mire. It squished between his fingers trying to reach his mouth. The filth oozed into his ears, muffling the screeching just before it reached him. Then it happened.
Thousands of tiny, clawed feet stampeded across his body in the pitch black darkness of the tunnel. Rats! Hundreds, maybe thousands, poured through the sewer drain in a panicked attempt to flee from whatever danger was producing all of the noise around them.
Levi fought the sensation to vomit into his hand. He knew it wouldn’t have worsened the conditions, but he still had to have a way to breathe. The tiny claws pricked his skin over and over again until he felt like he might go mad right there in the tunnel. He fought to keep down the urge to flail against the creatures in a vain attempt to kill them and escape the moment. Instead, he muttered a prayer into his grimy palm. He tried to focus on why he was even doing this at all. “Oh Lord, help me to rescue my friends. Please let them be all right. I can’t do this without you.�
He wondered if Seth might be holding his own private vigil ahead of him. The rodents continued to wash over them in a seemingly never-ending wave of terror. After an eternity submerged in the madness and filth, Levi felt a single tapping on his shoulder. The change of sensations almost startled him. Then he heard Seth’s muffled voice calling out to him in the darkness as he shook him with his hand. “Captain, are you all right?�
Levi raised his face out of the slime with a loud sucking sound and took a moment to breathe again. Compared to what he’d been through, the ever-present stench seemed like bouquets of fresh flowers. “I’m all right, Seth.� He puffed a few more times, taking in what little precious oxygen was present.
Seth smiled. “Then we’d better keep going. It sounds like your friends are in greater danger than we suspected.�
Levi nodded and the two men began their trek forward again.
EXPLOSIVE RESULTS
The demon-possessed soldiers hacked at the barred wooden doors behind them as Ethan followed Gideon. The priests rounded a corner and came into the throne room where they had originally been introduced to King Nichols. Ethan paused while Gideon ran ahead toward the archway where they had entered before.
Ethan searched the shadows. Something didn’t feel right. More demons? He couldn’t place the feeling of imminent danger on any particular source.
At the far end of the throne room, more of Nichols silver and blue clad soldiers poured through the archway. Gideon grinded to a halt then reconsidered and launched into them head-on. Ethan ran toward the fight to help Gideon.
The polished stone ceiling of the throne room exploded downward. Stone and fire fell upon Gideon and the soldiers. Ethan cried out for his friend, then saw the elder priest evade the avalanche only to be swallowed in a cloud of dust again.
Ethan noticed a low whistling sound coming from outside through the damaged ceiling. He saw several small projectiles arc through the sky toward the castle. He didn’t know what they were—only that they were extremely dangerous. He followed the path of one that would enter the throne room and reacted.
Ethan flung the physical sword in his hand precisely into the objects path. Only after he had let go of the weapon did he wonder if it had been the wisest course of action. The projectile managed to fall just beneath the shattered roof when Ethan’s sword struck it.
The weapon exploded. A fireball raced out across the room with a shockwave that pummeled everything in its path. The soldiers, still visible in the dust from the first explosion, fell like wheat to a scythe. Ethan crashed through a heavy wooden chair and tumbled across the stone floor.
He remained conscious, but now he had no idea where Gideon had gotten too. Had his fellow priest even survived?
; Ethan tried to catch his breath to shout Gideon’s name, but his feeble effort was swallowed up by a thunderous cacophony of explosions assaulting King Nichol’s castle. He found the strength to stand again. Great pieces of stone fell from the ravaged ceiling of the throne room amid a thick veil of dust and smoke. “Gideon!� He cried, but there was no response.
Soldiers broke through the doors behind him. Only the inhuman shrieking of demon voices through mortal vocal chords pierced the terrible noise of the attack coming from outside. He couldn’t see any way to go in the direction Gideon had gone. The demon-possessed would see him in the physical or the spiritual.
Ethan realm shifted anyway and flew to the pile of rubble left from the first explosion. Ethan searched frantically for a body, but Gideon was gone. The soldiers came into the other end of the throne room, apparently caring nothing for the collapse of the castle all around them. They spotted Ethan and tore through the chamber after him, some running perpendicular along the face of the stone wall while others bounded over and around the rubble.
Ethan still had the advantage of phasing through matter. He leaped through the wall as the soldiers attacked. Their swords bit into the stone after him.
Ethan came out into another room he didn’t recognize. Massive alcoves had been carved out of the castle here by the explosive attack. Many bodies littered the ground, some partially buried under wood and stone.
Two demons shot through the walls at Ethan, forcing him to defend himself. One struck at him before he could retrieve his weapon. He dodged the attack and locked his arms around the demon’s arm, then wrenched the weapon away. He released the brute and thought to use its weapon, but the spiritual sword evaporated in his grip, reappearing in the demon’s hand again.
“You’ve much to learn about this realm, warrior!� the demon snarled.