Canticum Tenebris (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 2)

by John Triptych

  “That’s wonderful,” Pastor Erik said. “But can you trust these so-called new recruits to tell the truth? How do you determine whether or not that they might be double agents or something?”

  Sheldon laughed. “Oh, we’ve been testing them for loyalty every now and then to make sure that they stay true to our cause. For example, I ordered a whole batch of FBI agents to murder their own director. As a sign of faithfulness to the Klan, so to speak.”

  “I think I might have heard it over the news a few days ago. What happened?”

  “About six of them got close and shot the director,” Sheldon said. “He’s in a coma from multiple gunshot wounds from what I last heard. Four other agents balked at the operation and so the Klan inner circle had the rest of the group execute them.”

  Mallory giggled. “You guys sure don’t mess around.”

  “I admit that our numbers are few right now,” Sheldon said. “But we will keep on growing. The South is pretty much a giant swamp thanks to the constant rains and the Fed government can’t help. The Klan now has a number of enclaves all over the place and we can increase our territory but we need your help.”

  Pastor Erik rubbed his chin. “What kind of help do you need?”

  “Guns,” Sheldon said. “Lots of guns. Preferably military hardware. Maybe even a nuke or two. We’re gonna need technical specialists to set up those nukes though.”

  “I can supply your group with guns, that won’t be a problem,” Pastor Erik said. “The nukes, we have to be very careful with how we deploy them. If we started to freely give those away, the Feds might come down hard on us. I heard over the radio that one of their generals had to be restrained because he wanted to nuke the whole of Kansas after we set off our nuclear device in Cheyenne Mountain. It’s a very tenuous situation right now.”

  “Oh, but we’re not planning to nuke the Feds left and right. We just want a couple for our own protection, just like what you’re doing. We figure that once the Feds know that the Klan has nukes, they will leave us alone too.”

  Pastor Erik sighed. Just days ago, he had talked to a senator from Virginia. The Feds were secretly trying to negotiate with him to put an end to the conflict. They were willing to cede him de-facto control over Kansas, provided he stayed where he was and not to attempt an expansion. The Feds also demanded the return of the president and Admiral Zimmerman as a sign of good faith. But if he made this new alliance, the war against the Feds might enter into a new and more dangerous phase. “Let me think about it,” he said softly. “I can offer you all sorts of assistance but as far as the nuclear issue goes, I can’t give you an answer at this time.”

  “Fair enough, Mr. President,” Sheldon said. “We can spread the word of God using our influence, and I feel we can ultimately make America white again. Who knows, if we keep this up,perhaps you may ultimately become president of the entire country.”

  Pastor Erik smirked. “That really is my one dream right now. If I can just bring the entire country under one church- my church- then we will be an unassailable beacon of light and hope throughout the rest of the world. First, Kansas. Then, the United States. And finally, the rest of the world. I truly believe this. If all of humanity can embrace the teachings of my church, then we can throw these demons back to the hell that spawned them. I think that’s the reason why Jesus hasn’t come back yet. He is waiting for me to fulfill my destiny.”

  “We’ll be with you every step of the way,” Mallory said.

  Winger raised his glass. “Amen to that.”

  The elevator doors opened again. Steve Van Dyke strode into the room, he kept moving until he was directly behind Pastor Erik and began to whisper in his ear. Mallory just shrugged as he poured himself another glass of bourbon.

  Pastor Erik’s face was flushed as he stood up. “Gentlemen, you must excuse me. I have some matters that need attending. Lloyd, can you continue the meeting? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  The other three stood up as he walked with Steve back to the elevator. The moment they got into the lift and the doors closed, Pastor Erik slapped the steel walls with an open palm. The clanging noise reverberated for a few seconds before subsiding. Within a few minutes, they were on their way down, heading for the basement sub level.

  Pastor Erik let out a deep breath. “You told me he was tightly guarded by two teams on constant rotation.”

  “Yes,” Steve said softly. “The men were handpicked by me.”

  “So how in the hell could he have disappeared then?”

  Steve just stared at the closed elevator doors. “I don’t know.”

  “Goddamn it! He was our bargaining chip. Now our chances of being attacked by the Feds have increased exponentially.”

  “I don’t believe it was an inside job. Nobody saw the president leave his cell.”

  “What about the video? Isn’t there a constant surveillance on his cell?”

  “Yes, there is.”

  “So what happened then?”

  “I think it’s best if I show it to you.”

  The elevator doors opened and they were greeted by an armed escort of five heavily-armed SOL troopers. They walked for several minutes until they came upon a steel door that was labeled Security Room. There was no doorknob so Steve just knocked twice and looked at the video camera above them. Seconds later, the door opened and they walked inside. The soldiers that accompanied them stayed in the corridor.

  There was only one technician in the room and he was trying to adjust the quality on a number of video feeds. Dennis Walden, the security chief, was also present. When Steve and Pastor Erik entered the room, they both instantly stood at attention.

  “Play the recording again,” Steve said.

  The technician sat down at his console and pushed a button. The central monitor immediately began a replay of the last few minutes of the president’s disappearance. It showed the head of state sitting on a chair in his cell. For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen until a black mist suddenly appeared behind him. Then it seemed that the president looked directly at the camera and began screaming.

  Pastor Erik leaned over the console as he tried to look at every minute detail on the video monitor. “Is there any sound to this?”

  “No, sir,” the technician said. “We only have it available for video.”

  The president seemed to be in obvious pain though they couldn’t determine if it was the mist that was causing it. Within less than a minute, two shadowy hands came out of the black fog and drew him into it. Then the mist rapidly dissipated until there was nothing left but an occupied cell. It was as if he just walked out of there.

  Pastor Erik looked away. His face had turned white as snow.

  Dennis glanced at Steve. There was a dejected look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, it was under my watch and I thought that everything was secure. I-I thought that God looked over us and that Satan could never enter our sacred ground.”

  Pastor Erik glared at him. “What are you talking about? How dare you doubt God’s will and power!”

  Dennis’ mouth was trembling. “B-but Pastor, you said that Satan could never arrive at this place! You said that the word of god protects us. I heard you say it!”

  Steve grabbed the man by the throat. “Watch what you say, you blasphemous bastard!”

  “B-but can’t you see? We’re damned,” Dennis blubbered. “Maybe God isn’t truly with us after all.”

  Pastor Erik quickly thrust his face in front of the terrified security chief. “You just don’t get it, do you? God allowed that demon to take the president away because that man is now in hell! Look around you, only the righteous deserve to be in Kansas and we are purging all the deceitful, pagan fools from this land! Do you want to be exiled away from God? Do you want to end up in the fires of damnation like that fool of a president?”

  Tears began to roll down Dennis’s cheeks as his knees buckled and he got on his knees. He began to sob as Steve had to lean forward to keep holding onto his shirt collar.
r />   Pastor Erik grabbed the security chief by his hair and tilted his face upwards. “Answer me!”

  “I-I don’t want to be a part of this anymore,” Dennis said softly. “I just want to go home. I want to go back to Wyoming with my family.”

  Steve shook his head. “You’re just pathetic. Look at you, no guts at all. Just because one demon takes a prisoner away, you start pissing in your pants. I should have never promoted you as security chief.”

  The video technician just remained sitting in his chair as he passively observed the commotion in the room. He was scared too, but he didn’t dare say anything.

  Dennis closed his eyes and grimaced. Trails of mucous streamed down his nostrils. “Please just let me go. I-I won’t say anything. Let me just get to my car and pack up a few things. I can’t take the lies anymore. I’m done.”

  Pastor Erik was incredulous. “Lies? What do you mean lies? Explain yourself. Now.”

  Dennis opened his eyes once again and looked around. “All this, it was all a lie, wasn’t it, Pastor? You kept saying that we’re saved as long as we follow you, but you can’t even keep a man safely locked up as a prisoner. Admit it, you’re not really giving us the word of God are you, you’re just a fake!”

  Steve’s words were slow and deliberate. “You are treading on very dangerous ground, mister.”

  Pastor Erik said nothing. Instead, he backhanded Dennis across his face. The security chief’s head turned slightly sideways from the blow, but he twisted it back to face them as he stood up and wiped away his tears with his shirt sleeve. Pastor Erik could sense a growing sign of defiance coming from his body language.

  Dennis smirked at them. “I get it now. You’re all just making this up, aren’t you? The ancient gods are real, but it’s obvious now that Jesus isn’t,” he said as he pointed an accusing finger at the pastor. “You’ve been lying to me all this time. You’ve been lying to everyone.”

  Steve placed a hand on his side holster but didn’t draw.

  Pastor Erik laughed. “So I’m the liar now, am I? Look around you, you fool! It was my will that made all of this possible! And you know how I did it? By the grace of God, that’s what. You are so pathetic that one little glimpse of the devil has made you renounce your faith. You are excommunicated you asshole. You will die along with the other heathens and you will go to Hell.”

  Dennis didn’t bat an eye. “If you truly are the instrument of Jesus, then prove it.”

  Pastor Erik’s eyebrows were contorted. “What?”

  “He doesn’t have to prove anything, dipshit,” Steve said menacingly.

  Dennis glanced at Steve first. “Oh yes he does. Come on, Steve, we’re friends! We’ve been working together for months now, and you’ve trusted me just as I trusted you. So trust me now,” he said before turning his attention to the pastor. “If you are truly the prophet of Jesus, then give me a sign. Come on, do it! I’ve seen videos of demons, and of the ancient gods on the news, but I have never seen anything about Jesus. Not one little bit! So why is that? Because these other gods exist, and he doesn’t. So come on, I dare you! Show me something that proves Jesus is real!”

  Pastor Erik’s face was a mask of stone. He didn’t betray any emotion as he slowly turned his head and looked at Steve. “Show him, Steve. Show him a sign that our Lord is with us.”

  “With pleasure,” Steve said as he drew his Wilson Combat 1911 pistol and fired. Dennis caught the bullet in the center of his forehead and fell backwards into the linoleum floor. His mouth and eyes remained open as a pool of blood began to form at the back of his head.

  The technician instantly shrieked and stood up as he held his hands up in the air, both as a sign of mercy and supplication. Steve pointed his pistol at him and the man screamed for leniency. A split second later, the technician took two shots in the chest and went down. Steve stood over his convulsing body and fired a third shot to his head.

  Pastor Erik walked over to the video controls and pressed the erase button. He deleted the camera footage in the cell where the President of the United States was taken away, and he also deleted the recording for the security room. His ears were still ringing from the multiple gunshots.

  By force of habit, Steve reloaded a fresh magazine into his pistol before thumbing the safety and holstering it. “There were four other men who watched the video and opened up the cell when they found out he was gone,” he said.

  “Have a talk with each and every one of them thoroughly,” Pastor Erik said as he rubbed his still painful ears. “If any of them has any doubts, then execute them. We need to purge our nation from unbelievers and traitors. The taking of our prized prisoner is just another test from God. We will still prevail.”

  27. Assault on the Tower

  Otherworld

  As he watched the final approach towards the tower on the airship’s bridge, Kurt Orlok suddenly felt some tightness in his left arm. As he pulled back the long sleeves of his black robe, he noticed that his left hand had begun to wither again; the skin on the back of his hand had suddenly shriveled and it looked like a flaky spider web had formed on top of it. That meant that his body had begun to deteriorate once more. Looks like I will need to use the rejuvenation pool again, he thought.

  “Preparing to dock with the tower,” the ship’s helmsman said as he carefully maneuvered the ship’s wheel.

  The tower was in fact, a gigantic cone of rock that jutted out from the base of the mountain range. Made of smooth black stone that stretched upwards for two miles, the top of the cone had a mooring mast so that the airship could attach its bow to it. Along the side of the tower was a gigantic iron platform that could then be pivoted to the side of the airship in order to facilitate the transfer of personnel and for repairs.

  Orlok turned to his aide who was standing beside him. “Once we dock, I want you to supervise all the repairs and recharge the gun batteries. We will teach the German government a lesson they won’t forget.”

  “Yes, Grand Magus,” Helmut Krause said.

  Ilya Volkhov held a tight clench around Patrick Gyle’s thick, leathery neck. The boy had been holding on as he rode on Gyle’s back for almost half an hour now and he didn’t dare look down. His legs were wrapped around Gyle’s torso for an extra grip just in case his arms felt too tired. The wind whipped at his blond hair, sometimes getting into his eyes, but he dared not pull one of his hands free to part it. If he lost his grip, the fall would be a long way down.

  Gyle had been steadily climbing the smooth face of the tower for some time now. The boy clung onto his back and he hoped that Ilya had the strength to keep up with this. Gyle was using his claws to wedge his way up since the rock was too smooth for any kind of grip. Just before they started the climb, they had tied up and gagged Heinrich and then left him at the base of the tower. When a small team of men and horses had met them at the portal, they were instantly overpowered and bound. Using the horses, Ilya and Gyle made the journey to the base of the tower a few hours later. But since there was no visible entrance at the bottom, they figured it would be best to climb up.

  Ilya looked up. “I think I can see a window or a ledge above us.”

  “That’s good,” Gyle said as he continued to use his claws. With one arm at a time, he would dig in and then pulled the other arm free and up before clawing into the stone face again. Gyle then used his clawed feet to push himself up using the holes he had already made.

  Just as the two of them made steady progress, a gigantic shadow suddenly loomed over them. Looking up, they both saw a gigantic metal airship several hundred feet above as it slowly maneuvered until its nose had moored at the tip of the cone. Gyle noticed cracks and multiple holes along the side of the airship.

  “There,” Ilya said as he used one hand to point at a ledge just above. “It looks like an open window.”

  “Okay, hang on,” Gyle said as he slowly made his way upwards until his head was now level with the ledge. The window looked more like a porthole as it led into a deserted s
tone corridor. Perched on the side of the opening was the raven.

  “Took you long enough,” the black bird said as it ruffled its feathers.

  “Shut up,” Gyle said before turning his head to stare at the boy. “Okay, Ilya, can you climb over my shoulders and go on in?”

  “I will try,” Ilya said as he used the remaining strength in his arms to pull himself up and through the window. But just as he got his knees on top of Gyle’s shoulders, his hand slipped and he nearly fell backwards. Gyle reacted as he instantly used his left hand to hold the boy aloft to gently placed Ilya on the window ledge.

  “That was close,” the raven said.

  Ilya took a deep breath as he saw that the wagons below were but tiny specks in the ground. “Thank you, Patrick.”

  “You’re welcome,” Gyle said as he looked up again. “You go ahead and find Tara. I’m going to climb up higher and see if I can sabotage that airship that’s floating above us. The dry dock is just another few hundred feet above so I should reach it in about ten minutes.”

  Ilya looked confused. “Ten minutes? It took longer than that just to climb up to this first window.”

  Gyle grinned as he showed his fangs. “Now that you’re not holding onto me I can start jumping around. I should be able to leapfrog my way much faster now.”

  “Okay then,” Ilya said. “Pity you didn’t allow me to carry one of those lightning rifles. I don’t have any weapons so what do I do if I encounter one of the bad guys?”

  “It’s better if you sneak around rather than fight your way past them,” Gyle said. “You’re not a killer so leave the killing to me. Do your best to hide out of sight and not be seen.”