Konrad kicked his horse in frustration and rode back to the summit of the hill where he began to scan the horizon with his binoculars again.
(((((((((((((
Mark Andrew pushed the injured ‘Prophet’ to his knees in the midst of the opulent cushions of his ruined tent. He put his foot against his back and put him on his hands and knees. Jozsef gasped in pain and caught his side again, unable to move further or even speak. The Scot drew the sword that Colonel McGuffy had provided him with and raised it over his head.
“Now you will repent of your sins, Sabaoth! You will pay for the deaths of my kinsmen.” Mark told him as he prepared to bring the blade down on his exposed neck.
“Astaphaios! Brother! You know who I am!” The Prophet gasped out the words and tried to look up at him. “Would you kill your brother?”
Mark hesitated momentarily and then raised the sword a bit higher.
“Wait! I have something for you!” Jozsef blurted and then spit up a mouthful of dark blood on the rug in front of him. “Something you might need.”
“You have nothing I need.” Mark told him, but hesitated as the false prophet scrabbled about in the purple trappings on the floor of the tent. He cleared away several pillows from an ornate golden box and put his hand on the latch. Mark brought his foot down on the hand and then shoved him away from it. Jozsef cried out in pain and clutched his wounded side as he fell again onto his back. Mark kept an eye on the injured man while opening the box. Inside, lying in a nest of black velvet was a sparkling crystal skull.
“Take it!” Jozsef hissed at him as more blood oozed between his lips. “Take it! Take it all! You can have all of this and Hubur, too. Just let me go! This place makes my nose burn. I don’t want anything to do with it any more. I’m tired of it all. Just let me go and I’ll bother you no more. You have my word as a brother.”
Mark paid no attention to his pleas as he examined the skull and then shoved it inside his shirt. It tingled against his bare skin. Jozsef was crawling away again toward the tent flap. Mark caught him up by one arm and stood him on his knees. Jozsef seemed to relax a bit as he saw it was no use pleading or trying to get away any longer. He’d lost a great deal of blood and his vision was growing dim. He could no longer feel his hands or feet.
Mark raised the sword once more, preparing to strike the final blow that would release the Ancient Evil from its physical body and forever destroy any hope of Omar’s return to a more familiar form. Mark gritted his teeth, gripped the hilt tightly and then froze at the sound of a familiar voice behind him.
“John?” He frowned at the sight of John Paul and Marduk Kurios standing in the open flap of the tent when he turned with the sword still raised.
“Father?” The prophet smiled at him.
“Adar!” Marduk interjected himself between them. “You cannot kill him like that.”
“John?” Mark lowered the sword and seemed to sway slightly. He looked totally confused and lost. He tried to look around Marduk at the prophet.
“Papa!” John Paul stepped forward and caught his arm as he swayed again.
Jozsef took advantage of this lucky break and tried to crawl toward the rear of the tent, leaving a bright trail of blood behind him. Marduk kicked him soundly and he rolled over on his back, clutching his side.
“Ahhhh.” Marduk leaned over him. “You are enjoying your new skin now, are you, Sabaoth?”
“Our father will see you in hell, Adonaios! Where is Astaphaios? Bring our brother with you!” Jozsef told him through clenched teeth.
“I have no intention of visiting our father, Evil One! You made your choice years ago.” Marduk smiled at him. “Where is your lovely consort? Where is the great Hubur? I have been admiring her pets.”
John Paul lowered Mark Andrew to one of the cushions and brushed back his hair.
“Papa? Can you hear me?” He asked.
“I hear you.” Mark was disoriented. “I came to… I need to… Why did you stop me?” he asked slowly.
“You can’t kill him with a sword, Papa.” John told him gently. “Lord Marduk will take care of it. He knows the Word.”
“The Word?” Mark’s confusion was growing.
“Yes. The Word. Come with me, Papa.” John helped him up and led him toward the tent flap.
“Where is your mother, John?” Mark Andrew blinked at him in confusion.
“Don’t worry yourself now. We need to find the others. Where is Selwig?”
“Selwig? Selwig is my friend. Sophia told me so.”
“Lord Marduk?” John Paul called over his shoulder. “Do you require assistance?”
“Keep watch for that scurrilous Apollyon! I see this one has lost his toys.” The dark Lord answered.
John Paul ushered Mark out of the tent into the smoky haze that had settled over the camp as Marduk began the incantation necessary to send the Ancient Evil back beyond the Abyss into the halls of Chaos. Mark sat down heavily on an overturned bucket as a series of wails erupted from within the tent.
The prophet took the Knight’s hand and examined the gold patch on the back of it closely. He pressed his other hand against Mark’s forehead and smiled at him before raising up to survey the ruins about the tent. He spied a spot of bright yellow amidst the rubble.
Mark grabbed his arm. “John, where have you been? I saw the stars, the moon, the sun. I saw the end of the All. Where is this place? Where is Sam? What happened? Did we win the battle? Where is Lugh?”
“The battle is over. We have prevailed.” John Paul frowned down at his ‘father’ quizzically. “Ahhh! The war! Yes, yes. You won the war, Papa. The Formorian fiends have returned to the sea. Wait here, Papa. I’ll be right back.”
Mark nodded and John Paul hurried away to where the Tuathan healer lay in heap beside his yellow bag. He picked him up lightly and brought him back to Mark. The Knight of Death took Selwig in his lap and brushed back his golden-red curls.
“Selwig! My friend!” Mark was appalled by the sight of the apparently lifeless Tuathan. “Wake up, please!”
Selwig moaned slightly and opened his eyes. Mark hugged him tightly in relief, much to his chagrin.
“Lord Nanna!” Marduk stuck his head out of the tent. “I cannot perform the necessary magick as long he wears the golden skin.” He dragged Jozsef Daniel out of the tent by one leg. Jozsef kicked feebly and cried out in pain, grabbing at the tent poles as his head was banged over the ground unmercifully. The life was ebbing from him through the terrible wound inflicted by the spear of Longinus. If they did not complete the ritual very soon, the Ancient Evil would escape them as the life drained from the human body he occupied, and he would be set free by death of the physical form.
Selwig pushed his way out of Mark’s grip and straightened himself up, dusting off his clothes.
“I came here to remove the work which I performed for my Master’s grandson.” Selwig told them gravely.
“Then I suggest that you set to it.” Marduk yanked the ‘Prophet’ from the ground and then threw him back at the healer’s feet. Selwig cringed at the cruelty even to this evil one. The healer bent over him briefly and Jozsef looked up at him in fear.
“My bag.” Selwig held out his hand and John Paul handed him the yellow backpack. He sat down next to the Ancient Evil and cringed again at the sight of the dark bloodstain on his white tunic. “He is severely injured, my Lords. Should I bind his wounds? He will soon bleed to death.”
“No!” Two voices answered him at once. Marduk twisted Jozsef’s good arm behind him and held his head back by his long hair. “Just do your work on the hand, healer!”
Selwig reached into his bag and took out several items before setting to work on the golden hand. The half-hearted fighting continued around them, but the sounds of gunfire was abating gradually as the Fox survivors at the base of the mound realized their leaders were no longer with them. The British and Frankish troops had moved into position in front of them, and Corrigan’s Irishmen were ridi
ng up and down the slopes of the hill, routing out stragglers and adding to the confusion by putting on a loud display of victory cries as they chased the hapless soldiers down the slopes. Mark Andrew had turned his attention to this activity and had left the vicinity of command tent unnoticed by John Paul or Marduk.
(((((((((((((
Lucio rode about the encampment with Vanni, Luke Andrew and Lemarik, checking the dead and wounded soldiers, searching for anything that might be worth saving. They were covered with dust and spattered with blood and gore. The last of the winged warriors had disappeared and only the troops penned down at the base of the mound remained. The Golden Eagle had spent a hard half hour recalling the rampaging Sphinx, when its services were no longer necessary. Lemarik had suggested that he send it off in pursuit of the few trucks that had escaped to the south. The great creature was very hard to control and would have to be put to rest again very soon. He rose up in the saddle and squinted through the smoke drifting across the battlefield. Someone was walking through the smoke toward the ranks of the Frankish army.
“Mark?” He narrowed his eyes and strained to see the hazy form. “Mark! Mark Andrew!” He shouted and kicked his horse. His three companions wheeled about and rode after him.
Mark stopped as the four horses thundered to a stop around him and the riders fell from the saddles, calling to him in excitement.
He looked at them in confusion.
“Ho, Adar!” Lemarik addressed him cautiously as they perceived the confused look on his face.
“Father?” Luke Andrew reached for him and he stepped back.
“Brother!” Lucio stopped in his tracks. “It’s me, Lucio!”
“Lucio?” Mark narrowed his eyes and wiped at his brow.
“And me, Luke Andrew.” Luke smiled at him.
“Luke? Where is Omar?” Mark looked beyond them toward the rowdy Irishmen on the hill. “Where is Sophia?”
“Sophia is with the Grand Master.” Lucio told him.
“Ahhh. The Master.” Mark nodded and smiled. “She is safe then. I was worried about the child.”
Luke glanced at Lucio and the Golden Eagle jerked his head to one side.
“Let us give you a ride, Mark.” Lucio offered and climbed back on his horse. “We were just heading up that way.”
“Ahhh. Yes. That would be better.” Mark eyed the horse with great interest. “You are with the camel troops?”
“Camel troops?” Luke Andrew was beside himself with confusion.
“Luke.” Lucio shook his head emphatically. “Give him a boost up.” The Italian held down one hand and Luke helped his father onto the horse behind the Golden Eagle. He smiled down at Luke with a look that Luke had never witnessed in his father’s eyes before. Complete trust, childlike enthusiasm and, most shocking of all, innocence. Luke backed away from him in alarm. This man was not his father. His worst fears were confirmed in that one brief moment when their eyes met and then Lucio kicked the horse and they were gone.
(((((((((((((
Mark Andrew tried to push the slab up once more and then gave up in aggravation. They were trapped. The stone would not budge. He walked back to where Sophia stood watching him.
“I don’t know what is wrong.” He told her and picked up his purple mantle from the floor of the dimly lit corridor. “It’s as if something is jammed or a great weight is on top of it.”
“But there was nothing there.” Sophia followed him back to the central chamber where the blue fire still burned in the basin.
“We will have to leave another way.” He spread his mantle around his shoulders and pulled her close to him. “Now hold on tight and don’t let go.”
Sophia wrapped her arms around him and he turned about quickly. Nothing happened. They stumbled across the chamber and bumped against the wall.
“What was that?” She asked as he let go of her.
“I have no idea.” He frowned down at himself. “That should have worked.”
“What should have worked?” She asked.
“The cloak. Lemarik made it for me. It always worked before.” He dragged the cloth from his shoulders and held it up in the light of the fire.
“Then it is quite obvious that someone does not want us to leave this place.” Sophia wrapped her arms about her own shoulders and shuddered. “We should not have come here.” She lamented their predicament. Mark had been trying again and again to open the stone slab blocking the only way out of the subterranean structure. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
“I brought you here… remember?” He looked up at her. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. We are overdue. We should have been more careful. I had no idea.”
“Surely someone will come for us.” She wandered aimlessly about the crystal chamber.
“That is highly unlikely.” Mark began to inspect the walls for weak spots. “No one knows where we are.”
“No one?” Sophia’s heart sank. “Not even John Paul or the Grand Master?”
“I didn’t think to tell anyone about this.” He shrugged. “I’m not used to filing a travel plan.”
“Oh.” She nodded and began to help him search the walls for chinks or cracks. There was very little space between the blocks that made up the structure.
He pulled his dagger from his belt and scraped at one of the seams. A few tiny crystals fell away. It would take years to dig out, if it could be done at all.
“How can we be trapped here?” She asked him. “I thought we were… I didn’t think we were…”
“Corporeal?” He supplied the word. “You thought we were spirits?”
“Yes. Something like that.”
“We are.”
“Then how can we be trapped here? This is a material space. If we are not material creatures, then how is it that we cannot simply walk through these walls?” She pressed on the stone with both hands. It felt very solid, cold and damp.
“A few hours ago, I would have thought the same thing.” He put his dagger away. “In fact, a few hours ago, I am quite sure we might have been able to do just that.”
“Then what is holding us here?” She asked and shuddered again.
“Something has happened.” He sat down on the floor. “Something very strange and mysterious.”
“Something very strange and mysterious happened here.” She sat down in front of him. “Do you think it has anything to do with what we did? Perhaps you were right…”
Mark took her hand in his and then passed his other hand completely through hers.
“You see?” He smiled wanly at her and then sighed. “We are not real. Not in the material sense. We are only real to the extent that we think it.”
“This is preposterous!” She passed her own hand through his arm. “Are we fading away then?”
“I had an experience similar to this once before.” He thought back on the time he had been in New Persia when Omar had only partially summoned him and he had become trapped there. “Stand up.”
They stood facing each other in the blue glow.
“Turn around. I want to try something.” He told her and she obeyed reluctantly.
“Is it going to hurt?”
“Probably not.” He said and then stepped into her completely. At first nothing happened and he heard her giggle at the strange effect this union had on them. It felt like a million tiny creatures crawled up and down his skin, like the static electricity in woolen blankets on cold dry days. The sensation began to build and even he laughed as the feeling reached his neck and flowed up over his scalp. When he noticed that the room was growing brighter around them, he made a move to disengage and found that it was not possible.
“Mark!” He heard her voice again, now filled with a sense of urgency.
“Sophia!” He answered her once and then could no longer speak.
A blue flash erupted in the chamber and they were no longer there. They were falling together. And the fall went on forever into oblivion. And all was turned
to darkness and there was no light and no end to the falling. And Mark heard his name called as he passed through the aeons of timeless time. Astaphaois. Astaphaois. Astaphaois. Uriel. Uriel. Uriel. Chequetet. Chequetet. Chequetet. Arelich. Arelich. Arelich. Volmalites. Volmalites. Volmalites. Onnes. Onnes. Onnes. Thoth. Thoth. Thoth. Adar. Adar. Adar. Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Hermes. Hermes. Hermes. John. John. John. Myrddyn. Myrddyn. Myrddyn. Marcus. Marcus. Marcus. And through the darkness, he saw the stories of his many lives associated with each of his many names. And he tried to cry out and cover his eyes, but the journey continued. And he saw the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. And he saw the plight of men before Sophia. And he saw the great flood. And he saw the Great kingdoms of the North. And he saw the destruction of the Great Tower. The Akkadians and the Sumerians and Semiramis in all her splendid glory. And he saw the men of Khem and the great Sphinx. And he saw the people of Yahweh and their plight. And he saw the rise of Egypt and the fall of Solomon and the exploits of Carlisle. And he saw the Master, the Rabbi as he died upon the cross. He saw the rise of Rome and the fall of Alexandria. And he saw the great darkness, the heresy, spread over the land and the apostasy of the Church. He saw the birth of Arthur and the rise of the East. And he saw the fall of Jerusalem and the persecution of the Pure Ones. And he saw himself lost in sin and despair. And still he fell. And he saw in darkness…
And he heard in silence…
And he spoke without words…
And he thought without thinking…
And he felt…
Nothing.
The Dove Page 26