Canticum Tenebris (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 2)

by John Triptych

  “So what you’re saying is that all these different trickster gods from different parts of the world are all just one being?”

  “No, what I’m saying is that there is a shared human spirituality because the beliefs that came about in so many different parts of the world are very similar, they may all very well come from a single source.”

  “So what do you believe in, Paul?”

  “I just told you,” he said as he leaned back on the sofa. “I believe that we are all one people on a spiritual level.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question though, do you believe in God? Are you Christian?”

  “I was a Christian. But my belief was that God is just a metaphor, another myth that transcends the mere concepts of a god that takes the form of a man or an animal. I didn’t believe in a supernatural being in a literal sense.”

  “Right, you believe in the stories, the myths that are universal. But what about now? You’ve seen gods and monsters walk the earth, and I mean literally. Doesn’t that prove your theory of the monomyth is wrong?”

  Paul looked away. “I-I thought of them as stories that could somehow prove that there are more similarities than differences between the peoples of the world, and we could have built on it. I had hoped that we could somehow create a more peaceful society of tolerance and understanding because we were bound by common stories of how the world was created, and of our place in it. Now I don’t know what to believe.”

  Valerie placed a hand on his arm. “Most people I knew before this all came about, they believed in something, or at least wanted to believe in a god that could be there for them in times of need, but most of their lives were spent worrying about their family or their job. But now that we know these gods are real what do we do now?”

  “I don’t know. But this does help explain why people are starting to worship some of these gods. They view them as powerful beings and they are, but they also have the characteristics of flawed human beings. These gods take revenge and they kill people who anger them. I can’t worship a god who does this, even when it’s been proven that they exist.”

  “Can anyone still be an atheist with all these gods running around?”

  Paul placed his own hand on top of hers. “I guess the word atheism needs to change now. Just a few months ago it meant not believing in the existence of gods, from now on it ought to mean a refusal to worship gods. There is a word just for that, it’s called irreligious.”

  “Is that even possible? How can you not worship a being more powerful than humans since they’ve been proven to exist?”

  “Would you worship an evil creature that threatens to kill you and those you love just because they would feel slighted at your attitude to them?”

  “It’s called avoiding trouble. A lot of people would say yes just to avert that kind of curse, Paul.”

  “I just can’t do it. I can’t worship a megalomaniac, even an all-powerful one. I know they came from different times when cultural values were different but I’m a man of the Twenty-First Century, not some primitive who thinks everything is magic and superstition,” Paul said.

  “Where has it gotten us, though? Our military or any other nation’s military can’t stand up to them.”

  “So what are you saying? We give up on the civilization that we’ve built on, just go back to the ways of ancient times and let the gods rule the Earth?”

  “Do we have a choice? The Feds are almost at the breaking point. Let’s not even include the separatists in Kansas in this argument.”

  “What? What’s happening in Kansas? You mean that church that’s taken over the state?”

  “Oh, you didn’t hear? They’ve got nukes and used it against the Feds in Cheyenne Mountain. Wiped out an entire underground base, along with the Secretary of Defense and a whole bunch of soldiers. Suicide bomb attack, from what I heard.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “That’s not all,” Valerie said. “They’ve got the president and the Commander of NORTHCOM as hostages. They said that if the Feds attempt an invasion into their territory they will kill them and just nuke everything.”

  Paul remembered having a high level meeting with the president and Admiral Zimmerman. Now the government would be powerless to make rapid decisions until a replacement was found or they mount a rescue. “So who’s running the country now?”

  Valerie rolled her eyes. “The Speaker of the House, from what I heard. But he doesn’t seem to be doing anything. The military wants to fight back, but what’s left of Congress is hesitating until there is a vice president that can lead the country. I heard they might appoint someone soon, but there’s plenty of confusion from what we’ve heard up there. They aren’t sure if a new president should be elected, or they should just appoint someone in a temporary position.”

  “Wow, what a mess. We’ve got the Aztecs ready to invade from the south and right in the center of the country there is a new separatist movement.”

  “Kansas is run by Pastor Erik Burnley. Do you think Jesus put him up to it? His congregation seems to think so. I personally know quite a few cops, and their families are on their way to join up with him. He’s getting more powerful by the day.”

  “I don’t know if the Christian god put him up to it or not,” Paul said. “But if that was true, why would he need nukes to defend his territory?”

  “Do you think the Christians in Kansas are just lying then? Why are so many people joining up with them?”

  Paul put his hands up in exasperation. “I don’t know. It would make things a whole lot less complicated if Jesus Christ did come back and show himself. At least many of us would be taking his side, but all we’ve seen so far are just the gods that came before him.”

  “So what are our alternatives? Either worship the ancient gods or just die then?”

  “Whenever I came up against a big problem in the past, I found the only way to solve it is to find the source of the problem,” Paul said. “If there was something that triggered the return of these gods, then maybe there’s a way to make them leave us alone again. If they left us before, then they could leave us in peace a second time. I may need to study up on the monomyth a little further, perhaps it may have the answers as to what we need to do.”

  “Let’s say we do find the cause to all of this and find a way to banish these gods and their creatures, would that really achieve a victory? Many countries have already gone down and the existence of these gods has been proven. So what I’m saying is, can we truly get back to normal ever again once this is all over?”

  Paul slid two fingers underneath his glasses and rubbed his nose. “That’s a great question. But there’s no way the world will ever be the same again. I think we ought to tackle the problems we’re facing one at a time. The world finds a way to carry on, we just have to be there when this is all good and done.”

  Valerie’s head was now leaning on his shoulder. “Easier said than done,” she said softly. “There must be dozens of gods out there right now, how do we banish them all?”

  “One god at a time,” Paul said. “We need to find out what exactly happened at the museum. If it wasn’t us that defeated that giant worm, then we need to get in contact with whoever did.”

  Valerie couldn’t help but kiss him on the cheek. “That’s a problem for another day.”

  Paul turned his head, put his arms around her shoulders and gave her a deep kiss on the lips. “Is it okay if I stay here for the night?”

  She grinned. “I was wondering when you’d be asking that question, Professor. I thought you didn’t like me.”

  He gave her another long kiss. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

  Valerie laughed. “Well, you took off to Boston for a few weeks even though I offered to put you up here.”

  Paul rested his chin on her head. “I’m sorry about that. I was selfish. Now I realize that I can’t run away from my responsibilities. There just isn’t a safe place anywhere on this planet, I know that now. I had to make a choice to fi
nd a way to get rid of these gods, or give up and just die. But with you and the kids on my mind, I now know I have to use the knowledge I’ve got to help everyone.”

  “There was another thing that worried me.”

  Paul looked at her. “What?”

  Valerie ran a finger along her scar. “This. My face looks like it was stitched together.”

  Paul took her hand away as he started into her eyes. “Lady, you are one beautiful woman. And I could care less about that scar. I don’t even see it.”

  “Thanks, Paul.”

  “No. Thank you.”

  It was early morning when Paul got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom. The day after his return to Brooklyn, he had decided to shave his beard off. Valerie had said his smooth chin made him look years younger and the two kids hardly recognized him. As he stared into the mirror, he wondered how he could have possibly been so selfish towards her. Of all the people he had known since the crisis had started, Valerie had always been there for him. She wasn’t a fountain of knowledge like Elizabeth was, but she was feisty and had a lot of heart. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t let go of the memory of his wife, which was the reason why it took him so long to finally acknowledge his attraction to Valerie. Whatever happened now, Paul had a feeling that he would no longer be alone. He had found a reason to rejoin the world instead of rejecting it.

  A loud knock on the outside door made him jolt as he dropped the toothbrush into the sink. Less than a minute later, Valerie came out of the bedroom with her pistol in her hand as he joined her in the living room. He wore checkered pajama trousers and a white t-shirt while she had put on a bathrobe.

  Paul dried his face with a hand towel as he heard more knocking. “Are you expecting someone this morning?”

  “Nope,” Valerie said as she checked to make sure there was a round in the gun’s chamber before standing by the door. “Who is it?”

  “Special Agent Lawrence Johnson, ma’am. FBI,” the voice from the other side of the door said.

  Valerie looked at Paul and winked at him. “Doesn’t sound like a Wendigo. Should we let him in?”

  Paul shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

  Valerie opened the door. Standing outside in the corridor were two large men wearing suits. They both had serious looks on their faces. She could see the bulges underneath their jackets, indicating that they were armed. Valerie kept her own pistol out of sight but she had a feeling both men knew about it.

  “Ma’am, I can see that Professor Paul Dane is with you,” Johnson said. He was the taller of the two. “We’d like to speak with him.”

  “Why don’t you both just come in,” Valerie said as she placed her Glock in the pocket of her bathrobe while the two men entered. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “No thank you, ma’am, we can’t stay for long,” Johnson said before turning to look at Paul. “Professor Dane, we need you to come with us, please. We’ve been looking for you these past few days.”

  Paul adjusted the glasses on his nose. “Is this an order or a request?”

  “We are aware that you tended your resignation with the DOD,” Johnson said. “I would just like to request that you come with us because the Deputy Secretary of Defense would like to speak with you.”

  Valerie said nothing as she looked at Paul.

  Paul returned her stare before turning to face the two agents again. “I’ll have to think about it first,” he said. Paul was wary of them after what had happened, and he was still somewhat defensive about meeting any of their type.

  As the four of them were talking, the door to the outside was left open and a thin, middle-aged woman walked into the room before closing the door behind her. As Paul and Valerie stared at her in surprise, the two FBI agents moved back and flanked her. Agent Johnson had started to tense, he knew that Valerie was armed but he kept his cool and didn’t draw his own weapon.

  The woman was wearing an office suit. Her blonde hair was turning gray but it was combed neatly and barely touched her shoulders. “Sorry to barge in like this but there isn’t much time so I had to use the direct approach,” she said.

  Valerie was leery at being surprised like that. Her hand had instinctively grabbed the pistol underneath her bathrobe, but she had managed to stay calm. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Mary Arctor,” the woman said. “I’m the Deputy Secretary of Defense. My superior was killed when the Kansas separatists attacked our bases in Colorado. So until they put someone in charge of the executive office that will replace him, then I guess I run things for the DOD for now.”

  “So you’re the new Secretary of Defense until they decide to replace you,” Paul said wistfully.

  “Yes,” Mary said. “On behalf of my organization, I would like to apologize at the way you were treated when my predecessor was in charge. When the team for the museum was being organized I voiced my opposition for the inclusion of the nuclear weapon, but I was overruled. I also wanted you to have full command over the operation, but again I was overruled and my suggestions were ignored.”

  “Apology accepted,” Paul said. He was willing to help the government, but only if they didn’t put the knuckleheads in charge. “So what do you want from me now?”

  Mary kept a straight face as she stared directly at him. “Let’s stop beating around the bush. The situation has been steadily getting worse all over the world, and I would like to reassemble this mythological task force before it’s too late. What I can guarantee this time is that nothing will be kept from you, and you will be completely in charge, that I can promise. The military officers in the new task force will serve purely as advisers and not in a command capacity.”

  Paul crossed his arms. “That’s all well and good, Ms. Arctor, but what if they decide to replace you? Will all the promises you’ve made go out of the window again?”

  “You can always quit again if that should happen, or if I don’t live up to my guarantees,” Mary said. “But as long as I’m in charge, you will get what you need. The fact is we need you more than ever now. I could beg but I hope you won’t force an old woman like me to get down on her knees because I will have a very hard time getting back up.”

  Paul smiled as he put his palms up in a gesture of reconciliation. “I’ll accept under one condition. Well, a few conditions I mean.”

  Mary’s face was impassive. “Name them.”

  Paul looked at Valerie. “I will need a police liaison and advisory so I would like Detective Mendoza as part of my team.”

  Mary didn’t bat an eye. “Done.”

  “There’s two young children who have recently been orphaned,” Paul said. “I would like them to stay with me until we can find their closest relatives.”

  “Fine, anything else?”

  Paul made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “I’d like the three of you to leave and wait outside while I put my pants on.”

  Valerie was giggling as the Deputy Secretary and her two FBI agents left the apartment. “That was a little mean, Paul,” she said. “But why would you need me in this task force of yours? I’m nobody special.”

  Paul smiled as he kissed her for the first time that day. “You are pretty important. You were right there when that worm god manifested itself in the museum, and you encountered a possible Aztec cult and survived both times. You know how to speak Nahuatl too so that may come in handy when we have to deal with the threat down south. And of course, there’s one other, very important thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I realized that can’t live without you, Val. I need you with me. Whatever happens, I want us together.”

  She smiled and gave him a hug. Valerie knew as well that she needed him too. They were so much alike. Two lost souls looking for companionship and love. From now on, neither of them would be alone, not as long as they could help it.

  19. The Seekers

  Otherworld

  “You seem to be in a very happy mood. I never saw you like this before,” th
e ghost boy said. His name was Andrei Shokolov but almost every other boy had called him Buratino, the Russian version of Pinocchio.

  “It’s a good day for me,” Ilya Volkhov said as he sat on a small boulder. The sun had been shining relentlessly on the windswept island, yet he neither felt warmth nor cold. “I am finally free after so many months, and I get to meet you one more time.”

  Andrei’s physical form seemed to be made of mist and there was a faint greenish glow surrounding him. “You’re lucky you can still feel something. I cannot feel anything anymore.”

  Ilya nodded solemnly. “So where is this place?”

  “I think it’s an island called Booyan. Our fairy tales says this is where the dead go to live happily ever after and sometimes to be reborn. Why did you tell the raven god to come here? You’re not dead.”

  “I just wanted to see you again,” Ilya said. “It would have made me really sad if you went to someplace like hell or something. I also wanted to say something to you.”

  “What?”

  “I just wanted to say I was sorry for not trying to help you fight Baba, Yaga. I couldn’t stop thinking about that day we went into her hut and what she did to you.”