The Centaur

by Brendan Carroll

  “The world has changed yet again, Great Lord, and much that was is lost. Now is the time to rebuild. Men are scattered and those who are left are at odds. They will abandon this land, and then I will rebuild my city, though I will not be Queen. I will be a benevolent mother, a teacher and a healer. I will draw the nomadic peoples to me and give them a safe haven in their wanderings. The gentle desert folk who preach of the omnipotence of the One God, the Creator, the Father. I will build an oasis with a sparkling pool to reflect His Glory: the skies of blue, the green fronds of the date palm, the endless sands of the desert. My people will return to me in praise of His Glory, not mine and I will honor him by remaining in simple awe of His Majesty. The stars of the heavens, the sun at dawn and the moonrise above the hills shout of His power. He needs no gold, nor does He need silver, for all these things are His and are only for us to admire.” Her tone had changed yet again and she was dreaming.

  “Tell me, lovely specter, who has taught you of the Great Lord?”

  “I have learned of Him from the Shining One. A teacher of days far older than time. And yet, even he is small in comparison to our Lord. My teacher taught me of love and of life and of giving for the sake of giving. I was once selfish and vain, proud and arrogant, and I thought I was wise, but my love for my teacher brought a new dimension to love.”

  “Ahhh, then you were unfaithful to your true love?”

  “After years of sorrow, it was easy to love the Teacher. He returned my love, but I wanted to possess him and in so doing, I drove him from me.”

  “Then he no longer visits thee?”

  “Time and time again, I have seen him, and he speaks to me gently in dreams, but he is beyond my spells.”

  “Then you are a sorceress?” Abaddon’s interest was keenly piqued. A sorceress might be able to help him escape.

  “No, I am no sorceress,” she answered sadly. “Would that I could cast a spell of love on the Teacher and cause him to love only me, and perhaps, then, I could forget my true love.”

  “Would you not welcome your true love with open arms if he were to come to you? Is there no hope? In finding hope in your answer, I may find hope in my own plight. If I can escape the dragon, I may find my love, and throw myself at her feet. Please tell, wonderful apparition, what are your words?”

  “I do not know the answer. Of course, I would welcome my love and allow him to speak. My actions would depend upon his words. You must tell me your words. What would you say to your lost love should you find her again? Try them on my ears and allow me to consider them. It would be an honor and a privilege to listen.”

  “You are most wise and surely you must have been a great Queen,” Abaddon said in spite of his dangerous predicament and the pain in his legs. “I can only express my gratitude for your company.”

  ((((((((((((()))))))))))))

  The deserted landscape stretched to the horizon with only a low mountain range that looked more like rounded, scraggly hills. These retreated on the horizon, leaving the armies with the distinct impression they had no hope of ever reaching anything remotely resembling civilization. Alexander Corrigan and his Captains had taken the lead, while the Templars fell back to rear guard positions. The three ‘armies’ as they called themselves, took turn taking point, center and rear positions to break the monotony and to share the dust-eating position at the rear. The Tuathans fared no better than the Teutonic troops under de Goth’s command, and they suffered miserably in the dry land. Nothing had turned out as they expected. Their clothes, their weapons, the horses, everything… seemed to be one uniform color, coated by the dust that had replaced the mud under the sun’s unforgiving rays. It was winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but the dry atmosphere and the blowing winds parched them, and d’Brouchart was hard-pressed to find enough water to keep them going. Every day, he searched the land in the company of his grandsons for new sources of water hidden under rocks or just under the surface of dry streambeds. What little food they had carried from the ark soon vanished, and they were all hungry.

  “How long has it been?” Simon shaded his eyes against the westering sun and then frowned at Konrad who dozed in the saddle next to him. The Apocalyptic Knight raised his own dark eyes to the steel gray sky and then counted off the days on his fingers.

  “Four days,” he said without emotion.

  “Four days? Sacre bleu! It seems like four weeks,” Simon shook his head and dust flew out from his long, formerly blonde hair. “It cannot be. Surely we are under some enchantment. I have counted eight sunrises.”

  “Not possible,” Christopher Stewart told him from his right. “You are both wrong. Six days since we left the boat.”

  “Six, smix!” Lavon protested. “I have made a mark on my saddle for every day. See here?” He fell back and then nosed his way between Christopher and Simon. The Healer leaned over to peruse the tiny cuts in the leather.

  “Five,” Simon nodded shortly and then stared straight ahead.

  “What do you make of it, Brother?” Konrad looked at the Healer from the corner of his eye. He was too weary to turn his head. He wanted only a bath and bed. Even food had lost its appeal.

  “Enchantment,” Simon whispered the word as Lavon fell back again and resumed his place directly behind Christopher. “I am sure of it. I have felt very peculiar for quite some time. It is as if we ride and ride and we get no where. I have watched the rocks and the wadis as we pass. They change. We are not going in circles, but we are not going anywhere. It is devilry. I feel it.”

  “And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. Perhaps we have angered someone. I believe you may be right,” Konrad rose up straighter and dusted his sleeves, before wiping one of them across his face. It did not help. “We should consult your father.”

  Konrad yanked on the reins of his horse and spurred it into begrudged action. The horse, reared slightly and turned, heading off to the northwest in the direction they had last seen Edgard, Philip and Izzy looking for water and anything remotely resembling food.

  The Knight of the Apocalypse called over his shoulder to his grandson, Apolonio, to follow him and the apprentice kicked his horse less enthusiastically. At least something was happening. Apolonio was so very tired of the campaign, he thought even a cozy fire with Michey would be preferable to the endless terrain. Absence certainly made the heart grow fonder.

  ((((((((((((()))))))))))))

  “So!” Ereshkigal said the one small word with great satisfaction. “It was empty! All this time… all this trouble and it was empty.” She threw back her head and laughed. Her laughter echoed through the vast caverns of the Fifth Gate.

  Marduk spun on Nergal and the Lord of the Fifth Gate held up one hand to stop him.

  “I do not laugh at you, my friend.” Nergal took a step back. “I will not be held responsible for Reshki. She is her own mistress.”

  “And well you should say so.” Ereshkigal closed the gap between them and took his arm. “I do so like this form much better, my Lord.” She laid her head on his shoulder and watched Marduk from contemptuous yellow eyes.

  “You may not think it so funny when things go awry,” Marduk said as he felt inside the golden box to make sure the emptiness was not an illusion. “I believe someone has opened it before we retrieved it.” He checked the broken seal and lock on the front of the Ark. It had not been easy to get into the thing without the proper key, but the Golden Key was far away. Far away and would not be given up easily.

  “Who? Who would dare do such a thing?” The Queen asked him. “It is death to all who touch it. The angel Lucifer
told me the Templars tossed it into the pit. Even they were afraid to open it. If Lord Adar was afraid of it, then I hardly think anyone else might have been successful at it. Perhaps it broke open in the fall.”

  “That is surely a possibility,” Nergal agreed and jumped as Marduk slammed the lid on the golden treasure.

  “It was sealed by Solomon, himself, and the Cherubim who watched over it,” Nergal muttered as he strode past them. “I still say we’ve recently had visitors in the Gates. Someone beat us to it, and it was someone of great power.”

  “Speaking of great power.” Ereshkigal let go of Nergal and followed after the distraught Lord of the Sixth Gate. “Nergal has told me you are missing some of your slaves. Have you located them?”

  “Nergal has a loose tongue,” Marduk growled and the Queen laughed. “I am going to the Sixth Gate to check my holdings. I suggest you inventory your own property. I will return, and then we will visit the Seventh Gate together. If we find nothing amiss there, we will visit our old friend Shammash and see if he has anything to tell.”

  Reshki made a face at him as he disappeared through the narrow entry into her treasure room.

  “I’m glad you are home, Reshki.” Nergal kissed her hand when she returned to him. “I missed you. You should not go off alone like that again.”

  “I had plenty of company, my love,” she said. “Once we had vanquished the Queen Mother, there was no need to linger. She has gone back to the depths where she belongs. Lord Adar and Lucifer assured us she would be easier to defeat after Sabaoth had been destroyed.”

  “But Sabaoth cannot be destroyed, my dear Reshki.” The dark Lord, led her through the piles of treasure toward the exit. “Your fearless Lord Adar may have banished him, but vanquished is not quite applicable. Lord Marduk tells me he is invincible. In fact, Lord Marduk admitted Sabaoth and Adar are brothers of a sort. Not only that, Marduk is apparently related to them as well.”

  “My, my, you don’t say?” Ereshkigal frowned. “At any rate, Adar went into the palace to make sure she was gone. Lucifer told us Adar and his disgusting pet Tuathan escaped well in advance of the flood. It seems only Adar’s son and grandson may have perished in the deluge.”

  “Oh? Is that so? A pity.”

  “Yes, quite. You cannot imagine what it is like to lose a child, my Lord.”

  “And I have no intention of learning,” he laughed and she scowled.

  “Speaking of children….” she changed her expression and ran one finger over his armored chest. “Would it be too much to ask your indulgence? I would love to visit with my children. I have not seen them for some time, and I have lost one already.”

  “I would prefer it if you would bring them here to the Fifth Gate. I want you to stay close until this thing is settled. Lord Marduk may be right. There may be yet more danger.” Nergal’s eyes actually showed a hint of fear. “I have checked my reserves and found them depleted. It takes ages to grow a formidable army and hours to lose it.”

  “Whatever you say,” she smiled, truly pleased. Her children would be pleased. A family reunion. How quaint. Semiramis would be green with envy, though it was a real shame that none of her children had been sired by Adar, but that was unimportant now. Her mind was racing faster than her feet. “I will send out invitations,” she said and left him staring after her.

  Nergal’s shoulders fell. He did not like children, and he didn’t care for humans in general. They were nothing, but trouble. He would have to monitor the situation or else Reshki would turn his gate into a sanctuary for wayward orphans. He slapped one fist in his palm and then froze. Something had moved. The sparkling lights reflected in the gold and silver treasures almost hurt his eyes as he tried to learn what had caught his eye. Something was in the treasure room with him. He could hear its furtive movements now that Reshki had left him. It had not looked like a rat or any of the other vermin inhabiting the lower regions. Perhaps a thief had come to rob his queen. Perhaps this was what Marduk had sensed. He crept quietly through the disheveled boxes and chests toward the tiny sounds. The room was a maze of stacked and scattered vessels of every description, cauldrons made of gold and brass, vases carved of alabaster, marble pedestals, crystal objects of immense value lay heaped and piled in every nook and cranny.

  Nergal rounded a pedestal of green marble and was startled out of his wits when something leaped onto his head. He saw only a shadow and then felt the slight weight as it struck his dark curls. He screeched and fell back, knocking over the pedestal in his haste to escape, batting wildly at his head, but coming up with nothing. When he gathered his wits, he checked himself over and found nothing amiss. He listened for several minutes, but heard nothing more of the intruder. It had to have been some resident of the Abyss, lost perhaps, or displaced by the recent flood. Whatever it was, it was gone. Once more he checked the chamber and then hurried after Ereshkigal, his thoughts once again on her brats.

  ((((((((((((()))))))))))))

  Mark Andrew stood atop the ruins of the Baghdad Bank and Trust building, overlooking what was left of the city of New Babylon. The flood continued to flow from the location of the destroyed palace. The murky brown water rocketed skyward some fifteen to twenty meters in three separate locations now. Most of the less well built buildings had crumbled and washed into the Tigris River, clogging its main course and causing it to flood the plains below the city. The residents of New Babylon had dispersed to cities and towns north of New Babylon as well as the countryside upstream. The siege armies had left the plain, packing up their tents and belongings and simply disappearing into the realms from whence they had come. Only the taller, steel-reinforced businesses, hotels and apartment buildings remained standing. Their top floors were visible, but the walls had been washed out, leaving only the metal and concrete frames above the swirling waters. There was no sense in looking further into the flood. He had already lost track of Lemarik and Omar, he would take no more chances with the lives of his charges. Selwig wandered about the roof of the bank in a daze. The water made the Tuathan very nervous, but Michael and Galen were impressed with the extent of the flood brought on by Huber.

  “Do you think she is gone for good, Uncle Mark?” Galen ventured the question after several minutes of observation with a pair of infrared binoculars. “I can see nothing left of the palace whatsoever.”

  “I think that she has departed this place,” Mark frowned slightly. A dark cloud was approaching from the northwest and the smell of a storm was in the air. Just what they needed more water and rainstorms were extremely rare in the desert. “I can only wish we may not hear from her again.”

  “The Great Huber is not likely to let her wounds fester for long, Uriel,” Ashmodel’s voice drifted across the roof to them. He was perched atop a microwave dish attached to one corner of the building. His long hair and white robes fluttered in the stiff breeze. “She will regroup and return. Let us go from this place. There is no need to further jeopardize these little ones. We can deposit them on safe ground and see who remains to help us shed ourselves of this plague of evil.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” Mark turned a worried look on the healer. “I suppose we could take them to Scotland. It would be the safest place… or the islands.”

  “We prefer to remain with you, Papa,” Michael told him. “We are too old to stop fighting now.” The image of John Paul smiled at him and the skin around his eyes crinkled.

  “I should think age would make one more apt to stop fighting.” Selwig looked at him in wonder.

  “That is how it usually works, Master Selwig,” Galen sighed and then smiled at the healer. “It is Michael’s way of joking. Not very funny, is it?”

  “Exactly so,” Mark turned and walked across the roof. “You have both wasted your best years in the service of angels. I think it is time you lived as men and enjoyed what normalcy is left to you.”

  Michael followed after him, drawing John Paul’s gold and silver sword of as he went.

  “Look, Papa!”
He said and Mark turned back momentarily to glance at the magnificent blade.

  “You made this for John Paul. Remember?” Michael followed after him. “John would not have me throw it down before the work is done. You said yourself she will not be satisfied with this flood.”

  “She planned to destroy the whole world, Michael.” Mark stepped up onto the ledge of the building and waved his arms over his head at what appeared to be a darker shadow in the water on the lee side of the building. “Her plans were diverted at a great price.”

  “What do you mean?” Michael stopped behind him and watched as Leviathan’s smooth black body broke the surface of the water. “Did you stop it? What price?”

  “It was not me.” He glanced at Ashmodel who was now inspecting the small structure that housed the mechanisms for the defunct elevators and ventilation works. “I failed to realize what it was that was happening and where it was coming from. I thought God was sending another flood to destroy us, and I thought we were deserving of it. But Mark saw the truth of it. It was he who stopped the Centaur from its planned course.”

  “Mark? You meant your… son?”

  “Yes, whatever,” Mark signaled the creature again and it rose into the air. Water streamed off its back as it turned its huge mouth toward them, preparing to take them in again. “He did what I did not think or dared not think to do and in doing so, he has damaged himself.”