Jodi smiled. It wasn’t time to release the wolf yet, but it would be soon. The scent of the Shadow was thick in the air, and the atmosphere was charged with tension. This was it. This was the endgame. This was war.
Chapter 42
Gabriel had known it would take a lot out of him to transfer the airship between worlds, but it was worse than he’d expected. The airship was the size of a Spanish galleon. Between that and the dozen people on board, it was an incredible feat. In retrospect, he was surprised he’d managed to pull it off. He was lucky to be alive, much less conscious.
Those were his thoughts as Jodi barked orders at the trolls and finally the ship settled to the ground. The trolls had already hoisted the machine up with pulleys and ropes, and they quickly worked to get it over the rail settled onto the ground below. Meanwhile, Jodi helped Gabriel to his feet and guided him down through the cargo hold and onto the dry, barren earth of the ruins of Tiahuanaco.
“That was impressive,” Gabriel said as they plodded towards the temple. “You really pulled them together.”
“I didn’t see much choice,” Jodi said. “With you out of it, they were just about ready to surrender. Are you sure they have it in them, Gabriel?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about this plan of yours. What if you succeed? What if you give them the chance to fight the Shadow and take back their lives? Do you think they even have the courage to do it?”
Gabriel glanced back at the warriors wrestling with the clockwork machine. They had attached several poles to the sides and they were moving it along by carrying it a few steps at a time. Behind them, an army of shadowcreatures cast a shadow across the land. “I think they have the courage,” he said. “It’s been a long time… they’ve been running and hiding from the shadow for centuries… but they may remember how to fight.”
They reached the wide stone stairwell and began their descent. At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves facing a smooth stone wall. It was carved with all kinds of strange, ancient hieroglyphs. “What now?” Jodi said. “We don’t have much time, Gabriel.”
Gabriel reached out and traced a line across the surface with his finger. It was a wide arc with zigzagging lines stretching out to form the shape of a star. He reached a point halfway through the line and stopped. “Here,” he said with a smile. He pressed on the area, and the entire shape slid inward. The door made a deep rumbling sound and the door lifted up, disappearing into the stonework overhead.
“How did you know?” Jodi said.
“I can see a lot that I couldn’t before,” Gabriel said. “These writings… they’re not just carvings in stone. They’re magic. I know it sounds crazy, but trust me. Soon enough, you’ll understand.”
Jodi shook her head. “I doubt I’ll ever understand all that you do Gabriel.”
He smiled. He pulled free of her and walked slowly into the room. A shadow passed over the stairwell behind them and the room became pitch black. “They’re here,” Jodi’s voice said nervously in the darkness. “The shadowcreatures are here.”
“No, it’s not them,” said Gabriel. “It’s the eclipse.” With his mind, he reached out to the torches on the wall and gave them a touch of power, just a spark. They blazed to life. Hieroglyphic carvings and paintings on the walls jumped out at them. Egyptian-looking statues guarded the room, so lifelike they almost seemed to be watching. A pedestal rose up at the center of the room, clearly designed to seat the clockwork machine. Sitting on top of the pedestal was the last statue. Overhead, a circular opening led up into darkness.
Jodi took a moment to absorb all of this and then suddenly remembered what they had been talking about. “An eclipse?” she said.
“Yes. The shadowfriends knew this eclipse was coming, that’s why they were in such a hurry.”
“The machine!” Jodi said. “They wanted to activate it now, during the eclipse?”
“Sort of,” said Gabriel. “It’s hard to explain. What they want is a planetary alignment. If they time it right, the machine will merge our worlds at a moment of perfect darkness, and the sunlight will never again touch the earth. The Shadow will rule the world”
“But how is that possible?” said Jodi. “The machine couldn’t possibly move the earth, could it?”
A raucous noise rose up behind them. The trolls had begun lowering the machine into the stairwell. “Careful!” Gabriel warned. He rushed over to the doorway to help them, and Jodi had no choice but to follow. Her questions would have to wait.
With a considerable amount of work, they finally managed to get the machine into place. They were all sweating profusely and one of the trolls appeared to have broken his arm. Gabriel barely had the strength left to climb the stairs by himself. Jodi followed him up, and watched him quietly as he scanned the skies.
“It’s time,” he said.
They walked back down into the room and Gabriel lifted the final statue. He tried to put it in place, but he didn’t have the strength so Jodi helped him. She stood back as he stepped over to the control panel and pulled a lever. There came a whirring sound from deep within the machine. The statues on the shelves began to move, rising and falling, disappearing somewhere inside the bowels of the device only to come lurching back out in some unexpected place. After a few seconds, they began to glow.
The trolls backed up to the wall, staring in superstitious awe. “What now?” Jodi said. “We just wait?”
“It has to build up a charge,” Gabriel said. “The statues contain energy. The machine moves them in a pattern that builds that energy, sort of like a static charge. When it’s ready-”
“Shut it off,” said a voice near the doorway. They all turned to see Reeves standing there, his pistol leveled straight at the machine.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Reeves,” said Gabriel.
“Yes, I do. I’m destroying that abomination once and for all. I don’t know what’s gotten into you Gabriel, but I’ve had it. I’m not playing any more games.”
Gabriel responded by stepping in front of the machine. “You won’t do it,” he said.
Reeves frowned. “Gabriel, these aren’t R9-11 rounds in this gun. These are explosive hollow-points. Don’t make me kill you.”
“Then don’t shoot,” Gabriel said flatly.
Jodi watched for a few moments as they stared at one another. At last, she couldn’t take it anymore. The wolf came out. It happened in a flash. Jodi snarled and leapt at Reeves. He took a step back. “What the-!”
Reeves raised an arm trying to fend her off, and Frostpaw appeared behind him. They crashed to the floor in a heap. In the process, Reeves dropped his pistol. Julia leapt for it but one of the trolls was faster. He snatched it away and grabbed Julia by the shoulder, a look of warning on his face.
Starling appeared in the doorway at that moment. She yanked out her sidearm and leveled it at Jodi, and fired. Jodi let out a yelp as the electrical charge overwhelmed her nervous system. Her legs went limp and she tumbled sideways. Frostpaw leapt at Starling but she managed to raise the weapon and fire before he landed on her. Frostpaw’s body lurched violently through the air, hitting Starling with such force that she was thrown to the ground.
Reeves pushed Jodi’s unconscious body off and jumped to his feet. “I’m sorry kid, but this is for your own good!” he grunted, pouncing on Gabriel. They both went to the ground.
In his weakened state, Gabriel couldn’t put up much of a fight. Reeves took him right to the ground and all Gabriel could do was lay there. He saw stars swimming through his vision. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” Reeves said breathlessly. “The shadowlords got hold of you again, Gabriel. They’ve clouded your mind.” Reeves pulled up his pant leg, revealing a holster. He drew his backup weapon and stood up, pointing it at the machine. It was a double-barrel forty-five derringer.
“Wait, Reeves,” Julia said nervously. He glared at her.
“Wait? Why?”
“I don’t know. So
mething about this is just…”
“Wrong,” Pete said, finishing her sentence. He was standing in the shadows at the corner of the room. “Reeves, if you shoot that machine now, the Shadow will still get it. You’ve seen them outside. You know we can’t stop them.”
“I can’t just let them have it, Pete,” Reeves said. “I have to try to destroy it.”
“You can’t destroy it,” Pete said. “Nothing you do to that machine will stop the Shadow from rebuilding it.”
Reeves sighed heavily. “I can’t just do nothing, Pete! Can’t you see that?”
“Why?”
Reeves frowned, staring at him. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Reeves. Just ask yourself… what if Gabriel was right?”
“What are you talking about?”
Pete took a deep breath. “What would happen if another planet appeared in the sky?”
“Another planet?” Reeves said.
“I know, it sounds crazy, but think about it. We’ve all known that there are other celestial bodies out there; things that we can’t see. That’s how we discovered the Shadow world in the first place.”
“What’s your point, kid?”
“It’s that machine… I think I’m starting to understand it. It’s more than just a clock, Reeves. It’s keeping track of thousands -millions- of celestial bodies.”
“And?” Reeves said impatiently.
Julia spoke up. “I think his point is that there’s another planet out there somewhere, Reeves. Maybe it’s something we can’t see, something that’s close to us, but in the Shadow world.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Maybe,” said Julia, “But if it was… it could be dangerous to us.”
Pete nodded agreement. “Yes, I think that’s what Gabriel has been trying to tell us. Think about it. He hates the Shadow as much as we do. Why would he change his mind? Why would he try to activate this machine if it would hurt us?”
Reeves lowered his gun, turning to face Julia. “That’s nuts. Do you even hear what you’re saying?”
“I know,” Julia said patiently. She reached out, touching Reeves gently on the shoulder. “I think what it comes down to is this: Do you trust Gabriel? Do you trust Jodi, or Pete? That’s Jodi on the floor, Reeves. She was with Gabriel. She was helping him. And look at these creatures… I don’t know what they are but everything I know about shadowcreatures tells me they should be killing us right now. But they’re not, Reeves. Look at them. They’re afraid.”
Reeves glanced back and forth between them, weighing it all in his mind. He was clearly at a loss. “I don’t know,” he said. “There are too many things that don’t make sense; too many things I can’t explain.”
“You’d better decide,” Gabriel said. He was still lying on the floor, but he pushed himself into a seated position. “The shadowfriends are here. If you let this machine run for a few more minutes, their army will be destroyed. If you don’t, they’ll kill us and take the machine anyway.”
Reeves slumped his shoulders. “I’m the only sane one left,” he said. “You all know what this will do, right? Do you all understand what’ll happen to our world?” He scanned their faces, and they all stared back in silence. “Fine. I’ll try to hold off the shadowfriends. Gabriel, how much time do you need?”
“Just a few minutes,” Gabriel said.
The entire group funneled up the stairway, leaving Gabriel and Jodi standing alone in the dark. Jodi was human again, lying against the wall, watching him with half-lidded eyes. Starling’s stun gun had seriously messed her up. “Are you all right?” Gabriel asked.
“I will be, if you’re right,” she said weakly.
“If I’m wrong, we’re all dead.”
Chapter 43
The shadowcreatures circled overhead, swarming down around the temple in a frenzy of claws, fangs and dark, leathery wings. Reeves swapped out his ammo for R9-11 rounds while Starling fired wildly into the mass of creatures. Right away, her EP3 blaster brought down a handful of the venomous winged varsifur and a strange reptilian creature that looked like a winged snake. The powerful electric charge knocked them out of the sky, and as they tumbled to the earth, their bodies crumbled like broken plaster and dissipated into a fine dust.
The winged creatures continued sweeping back and forth, occasionally diving in for an attack when they sensed weakness in the humans’ defenses. Reeves and starling saved their ammunition for these moments, firing on the most fearless shadowcreatures as they came within range. Meanwhile, a group of goblins surged forward on foot with spears and swords raised high. “There!” Reeves called out, pointing at them. He fired and hit two of them. He missed with two more rounds.
“Watch this,” Starling said with a grin. She changed a setting on her blaster and took a shot. An arc of lightning jumped out, cutting a wide path as it enveloped the attackers. The charge surged through their bodies, jumping from one to the next until each of the goblins fell to the ground. As they lay shaking, their bodies dematerialized.
More goblins streamed forward unfazed, followed by half a dozen ogres and a number of other, less identifiable creatures. Reeves and Starling continued to fire, worriedly watching their depleted supply of ammunition dwindle to nothing. As some of the goblins came within reach, the trolls lunged at the creatures with their spears. They danced back out of reach for a moment, and then tried again. This time, the trolls engaged them in hand-to-hand combat.
The goblins fought viciously with their swords and spears, but they were completely without discipline. The trolls danced out of reach, taunting them, drawing them forward until the goblins were close enough to skewer on their long spears. The first three went to the ground, clutching at wounds in their bellies. The rest, seeing this surprising turn of events, retreated back out of reach. The trolls cheered and taunted them.
That first battle had gone well, with a handful of goblins lying wounded and a greater number pulling back to cover, but despite that small victory, it was obvious that the team couldn’t hold the creatures off for long. There were thousands of them waiting in the background. Tens of thousands.
“I’m half out of juice,” Starling announced, fussing with her blaster. “I didn’t think it would go this fast.”
“I’ve got thirty rounds left,” Reeves said. “Then I’m switching back to live ammo. That won’t last long, either.”
“We die soon,” one of the trolls said. He looked frightened. They all did. It was increasingly evident that if something didn’t happen, the shadowcreatures would soon overwhelm them. Reeves and Starling exchanged a look.
“Everybody dies,” Reeves said. “Better to die fighting, than on your knees, begging.”
At that moment, there was a rumbling in the distance, and the beams of headlights cut through the darkness. The advancing army of shadowfriends pulled to a halt several hundred yards away and parked, their headlights casting bright halos in the dim light.
A Shadowlord appeared at the front of the army wearing a long trench coat and a black fedora. It was Malech, the Shadowlord who had pretended to be Byron. He waved an arm in the air, and the shadowcreatures fell back.
For a few moments, everything stopped. The rumbling of the diesel engines filled the air and the shadowkind vanished into the darkness. Then the human shadowfriends stepped out of their trucks and began to walk forward with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders.
“We don’t have much time,” Malech said in a loud voice. “We must reset the machine before the eclipse is over. Kill them!”
The shadowfriends all started shooting at once. They marched forward as a unit, firing their automatic weapons indiscriminately at the temple. The muzzle fire of their weapons flashed in the darkness, and bullets ricocheted off the stone walls.
“Back!” Reeves shouted at the group. “Everyone back inside!”
As all the unstoppable forces of the Shadow came to bear down on them, they regrouped inside the temple to make their last
stand. The machine was roaring now. The statues spun around so fast they were a blur. Sparks of light shot out here and there like bolts of lightning. Static electricity arced out, jumping to the walls and ceiling where it crawled back and forth erratically. Jodi and Gabriel stood at the far end of the room, holding hands.
“How do we close this door?” Reeves shouted over the noise.
Gabriel shook his head. “It’s too late,” he said. “Cover your eyes!”
At that moment, a group of shadowfriends rushed into the room with their weapons held high. “On the floor!” one of them shouted. “Everybody down!”
A high-pitched shriek went up from the machine. There was an explosion of light and sound almost like a flash-bang grenade. The shadowfriends recoiled, stumbling over each other as the light blinded them. One of them accidentally squeezed the trigger of his firearm, releasing a burst of machine-gun fire. The bullets ricocheted wildly around the room. One of the shadowfriends let out a gasp and dropped to the ground, a circle of blood appearing on his forehead.
Pete let out a shriek and fell, clutching at his leg. Julia rushed to help him as a third bullet struck the machine. A hiss of steam escaped through the hole and the ear-shattering sound of grinding metal filled the room.
A loud whirring sound emanated out of the machine, like a gear knocked out of balance. It grew in volume until it became a high-pitched shriek. Then something snapped. It made a ringing sound like a hammer hitting an anvil. The sound died down and the room slowly went quiet.
There was a moment of pure, awestricken silence. All eyes were fixed on the machine, watching, waiting. Then a stream of pure, brilliant light shot out of the top of the machine, piercing the narrow shaft in the ceiling. A wave of energy washed over them and everyone dropped to the floor, unconscious. Outside, a beam of light like a laser shot up into the heavens. The clouds overhead boiled like thick black oil rolling across the sky. Then a surge of energy pulsed out in every direction, and the clouds rolled away from the light in a wave. A deathly roar went up among the shadowkind.
Shadow Rising (Shadow Born Trilogy Book 2) Page 23