“No,” Brendan interjected. “She can be quite helpful.”
Dorian turned to face Brendan. “How do you know?”
“She helped me, too.” He lowered his voice and whispered in Dorian’s ear. “And I’m pretty sure that she sent Donn here to help as well. Let’s hope he gets us there on time.”
“Worry not, Protector,” Donn bellowed. “The portal is close.”
The giant bull began to trot a little faster, encouraging his riders to hold on tightly. His hooves found solid footing on the dirt and stone path, running in the dead center to avoid the overhang of the bare branches of the bordering trees.
The air rushed past them swiftly, reminding Brendan of his time on the Clair. Dorian’s Uncle Sean could really get that dilapidated ship moving. Thinking of Sean made him appreciate all of the people and various species of magicks who had helped him along the way. So many of them sacrificed their time, their resources, or in some cases, their lives. If Brendan and the others couldn’t reach his dad in time then many more lives would be lost.
Brendan couldn’t fail.
“Donn, tell me what you meant by it being up to me to get us to the destination?” Brendan inquired of the bull.
“The entry points to the Chamber of the Nether are fleeting and fluid for the most part,” Donn stated. “There are four fixed on Earth, like the one that you went through in New York, and then there are other portals that we call floaters. If the ones who enter the floaters have enough focus and power, then they can send themselves pretty much anywhere in the world.”
“That can come in handy,” Rohl said, clinging to some bristly bull hair near Donn’s tail end.
“There, up ahead,” Donn announced. “The floating portal!”
…
Hiss!
It was coming from just around the tight curve, but when Oscar got to the bend he noticed that there was a deep fissure with only an eight-inch ledge to cross. There was no way that he could turn around or give up, so he and the shadowman flattened themselves against the cave wall as best they could and began scooting along cautiously. The wall varied in texture being both smooth in sections and jagged in others. The real challenge were the patches of footing littered with bits of rubble and debris that made Oscar’s foot lose its grip a few times.
Finally, they reached the end of the fissure, and the ledge merged with the cave floor. They walked on for another one hundred feet and came to an unexpected stop. A rock pile blocked the path. Several of the rocks weighed thousands of pounds and were too massive for Oscar to move or dig through. All he could think to do was stand there and try to come up with a way past. He didn’t have to wait long.
The shadowman floated forward and hovered near the rock pile. He started vibrating, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until the rocks disintegrated in front of Oscar’s eyes. The shadowman floated through the dust and out of his sight. Oscar coughed a few times and waved the dust out of his face. He followed the shadowman in, stepping on and over rock chunks that had survived the implosion.
Hiss!
Oscar made his way blindly through the cloud of pulverized rock and into the clearing. He had entered a cavern that felt as big as any football stadium in America with a ceiling that loomed hundreds and hundreds of feet above the floor. The width and length of the cavern was every bit as impressive as the height. There was so much floor space with only small variants in the heights of shelves along the perimeter. A small stream kept a steady flow as it meandered through the cavern.
The most surprising thing to find was the trilithon near the middle of the floor with the shadowman hovering nearby. Oscar was fascinated by the structure, and even if it wasn’t the source of the beacon he would have been drawn to it.
He took a deep, calming breath and began to walk across the cavern floor, fearful of what he would find.
…
Brendan was the first to hop down from the bull’s back. Once he reached the ground he used his powers to bring everyone else safely to the stones and dirt of the path.
“Thank you, Donn Cuailnge, we are in your debt,” Brendan thanked him.
“If you can stop the end of days, then we are all in your debt,” Donn replied. “I pray that fortune be in your favor.”
Donn turned back to the way he came and trotted away. Brendan didn’t waste any time and marched straight over to the stone wall that sat in among the line of trees. The archway was clear, but what was less obvious was how to open it. Stone slats were built up in the center of the archway affording no clue as to how to open them. When they had first entered the Chamber, they had to wait for the time to be right; at this moment they simply needed it to open.
“How do we open it?” Garnash asked.
“Not sure,” Dorian replied. “There’s no manual for something like this.”
“Wait, yes there is,” Brendan said, placing his hand in the center of the stones of the archway. “Donn said that I control this floating portal.”
“Good luck figuring that one out,” Rohl said in frustration.
“Not luck, Rohl, intuition,” Brendan corrected.
The stones felt cool to the touch, almost icy, but he kept his palm flat against the center stone. He closed his eyes, aware of the collectively held breath of his friends behind him, and concentrated on where he wanted to go. Flashes of thoughts burst in his mind while he concentrated on the cave in the southwest and on Caoranach and her prison. Mostly he thought about his father and what the poor man must have gone through since Elathan had snatched him away. That thought made him furious. Take us to my father, now!
The stone began to heat up beneath Brendan’s touch. The heat radiated out from his hand and brought a healthy coloring to the entire archway. It became warm and inviting as if the very doorway to hope was opening up.
He looked back at the others before pushing the doorway open. “I don’t know what or who we’ll find in here or what kind of danger we’ll be in, so if anyone wants to stay back, now’s the time to decide.”
“We’re in,” Lizzie and Frank said together.
“We’ve come this far,” Patty barked. “Me and Wanda are in it to win it, honey.”
Garnash and Rohl nodded and Dorian took Brendan’s hand. “We’re in it until the end, love.”
Brendan looked back at Ken and Simmons. “You guys don’t have to come.”
“Try and stop me, O’Neal,” Simmons said, reloading a magazine into each of his 9mms. “How about you, Ken? You up for a little adventure?”
He nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Brendan pushed the door open and had to block his eyes from the blinding light that poured in through the portal.
“Here we go,” Brendan said as he led the way into the portal.
The entire group stepped in and the door shut behind them, returning to its icy state and closing them in to wherever it ultimately sent them.
…
Conchar didn’t really know what to expect as he approached Caoranach’s prison trilithon. The being was known as the mother of demons, a serpent master, a manipulator of twisted life. Part of him was excited to cast eyes on her, but a small piece feared for his own life, feared that she would mutate him and his mind would belong to her. He knew it was hypocritical since he created Ruas on almost a daily basis, but he reasoned that the mind of the greatest necromancer on the planet was far too important to be tainted by some ancient demon maker.
Conchar crept closer, maintaining his shadow cover charm, and eventually he stood just outside of the trilithon, weary of its invisible boundary. It was pretty much an empty area from his point of view, so he moved along the circular boundary until he had examined the entire prison.
Empty.
Conchar looked back at the Seeker as he marched closer to the trilithons. A bit of panic rose up in his mind. What if this wasn’t the right location? What if Elathan is not pleased? It would be the Seeker’s fault!
The Seeker reached the invisible field and stop
ped. He stood there for a moment or two and then he began to step under the plank stone of the structure. Conchar was going to stop him, but it was too late, he had already passed too far in, but to the wizard’s surprise, nothing happened.
Conchar watched the Seeker walk to the center of the prison and stand. The Seeker pulled several blue crystals from his pocket and placed one right between his shoes. The crystal began burning into the soil and sank out of sight. The only sign that it was even there was the trail of smoke that piped up out of the hole.
It dawned on Conchar that the mother of demons was being held in this prison, but she was buried well below, trapped between the cool of the crust and the heat of the mantle.
The Seeker was going to set her free.
…
Traveling through the floating portal was a much different experience than entering the one at the CHH. There was no vacuum this time, though there was still movement, only it felt more like being flung through space. They were all oriented so they were vertical, but their feet never touched any solid surface and their legs never had to exert a single muscle. They just scooted along without friction or force.
“A door!” Garnash shouted.
“We’re moving too fast!” screamed Ken, holding his arms in front of his face to brace for the impact.
“No,” Brendan said calmly. “We’re slowing down.”
Gracefully, the groups decelerated and touched down gently on a dirt and stone path that lead to the exit. They checked to see if everyone was fine, and then Brendan placed his palm on the door and pushed.
The door creaked open and the group was met with darkness, complete and utter darkness.
“Where are we?” Wanda whispered.
“Smells weird in here,” Patty noted.
“Smells like a cave,” Simmons offered. “We used to go spelunking at Howe Caverns and a few other caverns when I was a kid. It’s an unforgettable smell.”
“If Dad is here and whoever is with him has a way of seeing in the dark and we don’t… ” Lizzie said, pausing for effect. “Then that puts us at a huge disadvantage!”
“I’m on it,” Garnash replied.
Brendan heard the scuffling of the Gnome’s feet as he left the group, apparently going further into the cave.
“I have pretty good vision in the dark,” Rohl offered. “All Púcas do.”
“What do you see, baby?” Patty asked.
Rohl stepped forward and squinted his eyes, allowing them to make a few adjustments for the amount of darkness. “I can’t tell you how big of a cave this is, but I know it’s enormous! I see a small stream, some boulders here and there, and there’s a structure out there.”
“Structure?” Dorian asked first.
“Like Stonehenge,” Rohl replied.
Something about that statement caught Brendan’s attention. “That’s significant. That’s where we need to be.”
The group began shuffling along, holding hands and following Rohl’s lead, who was nice enough to transform into his horse form and let the Smith sisters ride on his back.
“Hey, I see someone in the middle of the structure,” Rohl announced. “Human for sure.”
“Dad!” Lizzie exclaimed. “Brendan, I know it’s him.”
If it was, Brendan was determined to not let him slip away again.
…
The Seeker was a master at what he did and Conchar could only marvel that there was a human able to decipher the messages from Otherworld, whether from a relic, a dominion pulse, or an ancient mother of demons; of course Conchar knew that he was partially responsible for the Seeker’s abilities thinking of that time so long ago in Oscar O’Neal’s youth. Conchar watched the Seeker walk four paces and placed another blue crystal between his feet. Just as before, the crystal burned a hole in the cave floor and vanished from sight.
Caoranach would soon be free and there was nothing Brendan O’Neal or Nuada could do about it.
…
Garnash moved about the cave more by instinct and feel than by anything else. He would scale a part of the wall and then clap his hands together to ignite the Gnome magic that his father had taught him and slapped his palm against the wall leaving behind a tiny blob of plasma that softly pulsated like a lightening bug.
“A dozen more should do it,” he said to the cave.
…
Brendan’s group drew closer to the structure without too much stumbling due to the fact that he was able to use his powers to keep everyone—even himself—upright. As they got closer, he began to sense the presence of someone else, and it wasn’t his dad.
“Here come the lights!” Garnash shouted from overhead. He clapped his hands together and the entire cave was illuminated like a stadium. Several points of light were scattered on the walls and some spots on the ground, many shadows being left untouched. Somehow Garnash was able to make it work, but Brendan didn’t really know how the Gnome did it. What Brendan saw in the light did not surprise him in the least.
A floating shadow hung near the edge of the structure and Brendan recognized who it was right away. “Conchar!” he shouted.
The shadow shifted and began to spin away until the world’s most powerful sorcerer stood between the group and Oscar. His wand was held tightly in his hand and a snarl could be seen beneath his beard.
“O’Neal,” he hissed. “How did you find us?”
Brendan and his group stopped about thirty feet away from the wizard with Brendan, Dorian, Lizzie, and Frank standing in the front of the group.
“Gut feeling,” Brendan replied. “Give us my dad, now.”
Conchar glanced back at the Seeker and watched him pace off another four feet from the center and place another blue crystal in between his feet. He wasn’t sure how many times the Seeker was going to do that, but he was sure that when he was finished Caoranach would make her full return.
“I don’t think so, not when he’s so close to finishing his purpose.” Conchar’s wand tip began to glow as he prepared for battle.
“Listen, jerk, if you don’t give him up now, we’re going to come and take him from you,” Lizzie declared, her staff zipping to life in her hand.
Dorian’s hands glowed blood red and Frank pulled his falcata from his back. The entire group was ready to pile on Conchar and reclaim Oscar, but a rumbling across the cavern drew everyone’s attention.
The ground across the way shook like mad, rocks cracked and crumbled, and debris was tossed into the stream as three distinct areas vibrated more than the surrounding rock floor. Then in a massive explosion of rocks and dust, three obsidian megaliths shot up out of the ground and loomed.
“Oh, no,” Dorian said, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.
The symbols on the megaliths came to life, glowing and flashing over with golden energy leading up to a dramatic flash of light. This flash was brighter than any Brendan had seen before in megalith travel. It was like watching a solar flare from eighty feet away.
A towering figure, dressed in golden battle armor, emerged from the center of the megaliths, his golden hair was flowing down to his shoulders, his eyes were two balls of golden fire in his skull, and his obsidian sword was hitched on his belt.
“Elathan,” Brendan said, the pit of his stomach knotting up with anxiety and fear. Last time he had barely been able to stop Elathan’s pulse from killing him and his friends, but how could he hope to stop Elathan now that he was so much more powerful?
Elathan strutted forward and cocked his head sideways as he spotted Brendan and his friends across the cave. “Protector,” he began. “You’ve made a bad habit of interfering in my business, a mistake that can cost you your world.”
“All I want is my dad back, Elathan,” Brendan said, stepping in Elathan’s direction. “Let us take him and then we’ll go.”
“Wrong!” His voice bellowed through the cavern making everyone cover his or her ears. “Only your souls will leave this cave.”
The megaliths flashed again and a smal
l army of Goblin clans—Brags, Redcaps, and Bendiths—and a group of fachen streamed out of the obsidian megaliths and flanked the golden god.
“Tear them apart,” Elathan ordered.
…
The hissing was growing louder and louder in Oscar’s ears and he was starting to feel more apprehensive about unearthing this treasure. It didn’t really matter, though. He was compelled beyond his control, so he walked off the four paces from the center, this time to the north, and planted the crystal just as he had done in the eastern and western directions. He watched it bore its way into the cave floor, spitting out a burst of exhaust as it went. He had to wait until it finished drilling before he could move on to the last crystal’s position.
One to go and then his biggest fear would be unleashed.
…
Lizzie and Frank sprinted directly towards Oscar. Conchar growled and blasted a spell that sent a streak of fire directly in their path sparking up off of the stone cave floor.
“Whoa!” Frank shrieked. “Are you out of your mind?”
“The Seeker will finish what he’s started—no matter what, humans.”
“You say human like it’s a dirty word,” Lizzie noted in surprise. She spun her staff around and pointed it at the wizard with grit in her expression. “You are not going to stop us.”
Conchar’s wand was crackling with energy as he slashed it through the air. “Die!” Miniature daggers appeared out of thin air and shot the distance at them with serious speed.
“Look out!” Lizzie warned. Lizzie moved her staff with amazing speed and slapped the daggers out of the air.
Frank stepped around Lizzie and charged at Conchar with his falcata loaded above his head for a killing blow. He brought it down at the wizard who just managed to change his wand into a sword and deflect the blow. Lizzie watched as the two swordsmen slashed and clanged metal on metal—Frank holding his own in each slash—so she sprinted towards her father.
She broke through the trilithon’s barrier without a problem and called out to Oscar. “Dad! Come on, let’s go!”
Oscar turned from his position and walked four paces towards her and then stood over the top of a small hole that had a thin tendril of smoke leaking out from it.
The Dominion Pulse Page 27