The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death

by Brendan Carroll

  “Santa Maria!” the Italian Knight uttered his favorite sobriquet. His voice sounded strangely muffled in the gloom.

  “In the name of King David and King Solomon, I summon forth the powers that lie beneath the mountains of the earth and beneath the seas and beneath the fields of grain and beneath the waters that flow. I call upon the great and powerful mind to ease our burdens and make quick the building of the temple.”

  Von Hetz drew in a sharp breath and turned his eyes on Dambretti, looking at him in absolute shock. Never in his long career with d’Brouchart had he seen such a thing. In fact, he’d had no idea that the precious relic was anything more than simply that: a relic. Now he marveled that this staff was somehow part of the Master’s mystery. Dambretti had no idea what was happening, but the look on the Apocalyptic Knight’s face told him more than he wanted to know. Simon continued his frantic prayers and Christopher continued crossing himself though his eyes were closed tightly against the dust. Mark Andrew scuttled back a bit and then threw himself down on the ground beside von Hetz.

  “What is this, Brother?” he asked when von Hetz looked at him.

  “We must confess,” von Hetz told him and plucked at the silver earrings in Mark’s hair before hitting him on the shoulder with his closed fist. “Shrive me, Brother.” He did not wait for a response before beginning his confession. “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I have taken the name of the Lord my God in vain. I have lost my temper with my Brothers. I have disobeyed the commands of my Master. I have taken the thoughts of my Brothers against their will. I have willfully injured my Brother.”

  Ramsay hit the Knight on his shoulder and nodded “Go in peace, my Brother, your sins are forgiven.”

  “What is my penance?” Von Hetz asked him in surprise.

  “Most of those weren’t sins, Brother. They were part of your duty. God understands.” He hit the man again and closed his eyes. It was his turn.

  “Shrive me, Brother. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I have lost my way and sinned against God. I have committed adultery against the Order. I have lost my temper with my Brothers. I have had impure thoughts. I have broken my vows of chastity and I have spoken during a meal. I have drunk spirits without just cause. I have taken the name of the Lord, my God, in vain and I have committed murder and rape in my heart. I beg Your forgiveness.”

  “Go in peace, my Brother, your confessed sins are forgiven,” von Hetz hesitated briefly and then hit him again and turned to Dambretti.

  Mark Andrew frowned deeply at the Knight of the Apocalypse. Surely he had not heard him correctly. Von Hetz had added a word to the litany. He was sure of it, but he wasn’t sure what word it had been. There would be retribution, punishment for what he had done. Dambretti stared at him and then hit him on the shoulder.

  “Confess, my Brother, before it is too late.”

  “Shrive me, Brother,” he said in Italian and then began to confess his own sins which included impure thoughts and driving his Brother to anger. Mark pretended not to hear the confession, but was greatly relieved when the Knight of the Golden Eagle did not mention breaking his vows of chastity though he did include lying with a woman over thirty times since his last confession. Mark knew that this could not be Meredith. Well, at least not all thirty… surely…

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  Sir Montague swayed again and realized that it was not his state of mind, but a rather more alarming development. The ground was indeed moving below his feet! He looked up at the sun and saw it riding high in the sky through a greenish haze, but the hill top seemed shrouded in twilight, as if it were early evening. His ears popped and he repressed the urge to stick his fingers in them. He worked his jaw, trying to make them pop again to no avail. Everything sounded muffled. Valentino gave a short shriek when she felt the ground move, but quickly returned her gaze to the baculus, unable to look away, mesmerized by the Master’s words and entranced by the flames in the amber ball gripped in the golden claws.

  “O great and powerful Lord, I beseech Thee, I implore Thee in the names of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Of Joseph. Of King Solomon and his father, King David. Show us Your greatness.”

  A slight tremor shook the earth and small rocks skittered down the hillside. A bolt of purplish lightning streaked from the sky and struck the earth in the dead center of the hill. The electrical bolt split into thousands of branches, dancing about the surface of the exposed limestone rocks, engraving them with strange markings, before disappearing into the ground. Valentino slapped her hands over her ears as the thunder which accompanied the lightning, threatened to deafen them all. Montague seized the opportunity to relieve her of the pistol and threw her easily to the ground at his Master’s feet. D’Brouchart turned around and looked toward the place where the ground steamed and hissed from the impact of the strike. He began backing away slowly, almost stumbling over the woman behind him.

  Ramsay was up first, quickly followed by von Hetz and Dambretti. Christopher was still confessing a considerable list of sins to Simon, which seemed impossible since he had just confessed only a few hours before in the cave. Simon stayed with the apprentice, but wore a shocked look on his face. Mark heard only part of his apprentice’s words. “… and murder in my heart six… no, seven times… at least and impure thoughts about Master Dambretti and Miss Sinclair and I have grumbled against God three times. I cursed my luck six times and Master Beaujold a dozen or more times under my breath and I…” Mark didn’t know if Simon’s shock was because of the Grand Master’s activities or the apprentice’s sins. The three Knights raced across the shaking, shuddering ground toward their Master who continued to back away slowly. Montague dragged Cecile Valentino back by one arm, while she kicked and struggled to free herself from his grip. Ramsay reached for her other arm and yanked her to her feet just as the entire hill seemed to lurch under them. All six of them were thrown to the ground as a splintering noise erupted from the center of the hill, followed by a geyser of steam that shot several dozen feet into the air.

  “Hurry, Brothers!” d’Brouchart shouted at them. “We must abandon this place at once.”

  They clambered to their feet with the assistance of Simon and Christopher who were finally able to join them. Already, Christopher was chalking up another list of sins as he cursed the pitching, rolling ground beneath his feet. Valentino regained her footing and grabbed hold of D’Brouchart’s arm.

  “What is this?!” she shouted at him above the rumbling noise. “What have you done?!”

  “Behold the Insects of Sherma!” he exclaimed jubilantly and held up the baculus toward the sun. “Those mystical creatures of legend which carved the stones of the Temple of Solomon from the living rock.”

  “What?!” Ramsay threw up both arms and turned toward the Master in consternation. He watched in stunned amazement as the rocks seemed to heave and move of their own accord. “That’s impossible. Surely, not! What have you done?”

  Von Hetz caught his arm and shook his head. The noise of the cracking rocks and hissing steam was making it impossible to be heard above the din. “The Insects of Sherma, Brother!” the Apocalyptic Knight shouted in his ear. “The instrument God used to carve out the polished marble stones for Solomon’s Temple! And thus spake the Lord ‘Let their habitation be desolate’!”

  They moved in a tight group toward the side of the hill, stumbling and starting and stopping and holding on to each other as the ground continued to shake and roll under them. Ramsay grabbed Valentino again and dragged her along with them in spite of her desire to go in a different direction. He stopped short at the sound of a shotgun blast and ducked instinctively as the shot whined past, barely missing his head.

  Mark heard Merry screaming his name and looked up to see Maxie standing at the top of the path with the shotgun barrel pressed under her chin. The barrel burned into her skin as she tried to jerk away from him. He had one arm around her neck. Valentino broke free from Mark and ran haphazardly across the heaving ground, s
topping beside Maxie. She stood looking back at them with rage and fear on her face.

  “Merry!” Ramsay shouted and stood up, then almost fell before taking a step forward.

  “Hold, Brother Ramsay!” d’Brouchart shouted at him.

  “Yeah, hold, dipshit, or I’ll blow her head clean off!” Maxie’s voice cut through the chaos.

  “Give me the gun!” Valentino yelled at Montague.

  The Knight of the Holy City looked down at the pistol and then back at the woman, shaking his head in the negative. It was none of his business if these miserable people killed each other. Ramsay snatched the pistol from him and threw it across the space between them. Valentino picked it up and advanced on d’Brouchart.

  “Give me the staff!” she shouted at him as he, too, backed away from her. She raised the pistol and Merry screamed again, this time with a different tonal quality. She was staring wild-eyed at something behind them.

  The beleaguered group turned and beheld an awesome sight as an immense white form slowly emerged from the ground near the center of the hill. It was huge, larger than a train engine and shaped, oddly enough, like a common grub worm. Its skin was snow white and ribbed with grayish stripes. Hundreds of centipede-like legs lined the length of its fat body and its head appeared to be armor plated, resembling that of a rhinoceros replete with a row of hooked horns down the center. On either side of its head were long, black pinchers at least four feet in length with the appearance of those found on a Rhinoceros beetle. They watched in fascination as it reared on its hindmost legs and sprayed a fine line of milky liquid from its mouth. The fluid struck the ground, hissing and sizzling in a long, perfectly straight line, cutting down through the rock like a powerful laser beam.

  Valentino glanced at the monstrosity, almost fell and then quickly regained her footing before screaming at d’Brouchart again.

  “Give me the staff!” She raised the pistol and pulled the trigger before he could react. The bullet struck Montague in the shoulder spinning him around. Simon caught and held him upright. She turned the pistol on Christopher Stewart, the next available target. Christopher froze, staring at her in wonder before sinning again in his heart. “Give it to me, now or the boy dies!”

  D’Brouchart shook his head. It was not an option. He could relinquish the ancient artifact no matter what she did.

  She aimed the pistol at Christopher's head, but was thrown off balance as another fissure opened in the ground very near where the Knights stood. They moved away from it quickly in terrified silence, oblivious to the threat of the pistol, when another of the great white worms wiggled from the crack, seemingly inflating as it rose from an impossibly small opening. This second creature rose immediately on its rear legs and sprayed another line of the milky liquid at right angles to the work of the first worm before undulating away a few paces to repeat the process. The first worm was busy making more lines of sizzling rock. The two beasts were cutting the hill apart in a systematic grid pattern.

  The first complete rectangular blocks rose into the air very near to where they stood. Again, they moved away from the strange sight, backing slowly toward the ugly man who still stood, forgotten, holding the shotgun to Merry’s head. Mark had temporarily forgotten about Maxie when the larger, more immediate threat had appeared on the hilltop with them. The first two white blocks of polished limestone rose into the air slowly accompanied by deep rumbles from within the earth and then toppled toward them, landing on their sides with tremendous crashes. Small pieces of rock and debris flew into the air under the enormous weight of the building stones. Small geysers of steam erupted from the earth in several places at once. The Knights turned as a group, taking the Master with them as they fled toward the shoulder of the hill where the path started down toward the garden, ignoring Maxie and Valentino’s shouted warnings to stay back.

  Merry stomped on Maxie’s instep in the ensuing confusion and broke free from his grip. The Knight of the Apocalypse reached back for Mark as another tremor threatened to throw them to the earth.

  Mark Andrew looked directly into the eyes of Konrad von Hetz and smiled. He winked at the German before breaking from the group. He turned and made straight for the terrified security guard with the golden sword held above his shoulder. Maxie brought the shotgun around to fire at him just as he made a final leap into the air. The second shot exploded from the barrel, but it was too late. The shot passed cleanly under the Knight and rattled off the hillside behind him. The Chevalier du Morte landed squarely in front of the ugly man who had tormented him for the past several days. He looked him briefly in the eyes and then grasped the sword in both hands as the man struggled desperately to reload the shotgun. Mark stepped forward, dipped slightly and then turned completely around, bringing the edge of the sparkling blade just above the level of the man’s shoulders.

  The sword struck home and Maxie’s horrified face disappeared along with his head down the side of the hill. His decapitated body crumpled to the ground at Ramsay’s feet, spraying a fine line of blood into the air. Mark Andrew raised the sword again intending to stab the lifeless carcass in a fit of rage, but was stopped by the sound of Merry screaming his name again in terror.

  The ground rocked and swayed violently, throwing the Knights to the ground. Valentino screamed in rage rather than terror, scrambled to her feet and charged the after the Grand Master.

  Turning to find her, he saw that another of the great worms had emerged from the hole left by the first blocks. Merry had begun to run in that direction, but now she was stopped a few yards away, staring at the thing in terror, frozen in place, while it worked its way up the bottom of the newly excavated slab, polishing the exposed stone to a mirror finish with short, cone-shaped blasts of the same volatile liquid. Christopher raced toward her and dragged her away from the worm.

  Valentino had caught up with d’Brouchart and was struggling physically with the Grand Master, still trying to take the baculus from him. The ground shuddered violently again throwing them both to the ground. Simon stumbled along with Montague leaning on his arm. Dambretti shouted something to von Hetz and then tried to crawl across the ground toward the Grand Master who was perilously close to the edge of the newly created, steadily enlarging pit, where more and more blocks were being quarried. The great beasts seemed to have no regard for the humans on the hill. They went about their work as if nothing else existed, blindly working completely without the aid of eyes. The Master hung onto the baculus desperately with one hand as it dangled over the edge of the pit. Valentino rose up on her knees and fired at Dambretti. The bullet struck him in the leg and he rolled over on the ground clutching his leg, cursing in Italian.

  Von Hetz came alongside Ramsay then hurried on toward the Master. He would take up where Dambretti had failed. As he passed Ramsay, he shouted one word of warning.

  “Beaujold!”

  Ramsay turned quickly, in time to avoid being split down the middle by the Knight of the Sword’s wicked silver blade. He recovered his balance and charged in under the man’s sword, grabbing hold of his legs, bringing him down heavily on his back, knocking the breath from him. Ramsay pinned him to the ground and sat on his stomach with his knee on the Knight’s wrist, effectively preventing him from raising the sword again. He pulled the bejeweled dagger from his pocket and looked down at the man who would have his head in spite of everything. Beaujold’s sunken blue eyes bespoke no regret, but held only hatred for him, even unto death. He had several long cuts on his forehead, no doubt from Maxie’s hospitality.

  “Cry mercy or die!” Ramsay told him through clenched teeth.

  Beaujold did not beg mercy, but rather spat at him instead. Ramsay raised the dagger to finish him and was startled as someone grasped his arm, preventing the final blow from falling. He looked up into the face of the Italian.

  “Don’t do it, Brother!” Dambretti shouted at him. “Don’t make his sin your sin.”

  This simple statement made, Lucio let go of his wrist and pressed his h
and against his leg, before limping away. Whatever Ramsay decided to do would be the Will of God and Dambretti had done his share of work for the day. He was angry, terrified and in pain. They could all go to hell in a handbasket for all he cared.

  Mark Andrew looked down at the man again and then brought the hilt of the dagger down viciously, administering a devastating blow to the side of the Knight’s head instead of killing him. The blue eyes rolled back and he felt the man go limp under him. Mark Andrew pushed himself up and picked up the silver sword which lay next to the unconscious Knight of the Sword. Perhaps he would have to kill him later, but now was not the time. He turned without letting up the pressure on the Knight’s wrist and surveyed the havoc behind him.

  More and more slabs of rock were being pushed out of the hill. The ground shook and reverberated with the sounds of the blocks crashing to their sides. At least a dozen of the worms had emerged from the earth and were busily polishing the rough undersides of the quarried blocks. Mark was fascinated momentarily by the sight of the finished limestone building blocks, ready to be placed into use.

  The Master was still struggling to hold onto the baculus as he slipped closer and closer to the brink of the pit. Von Hetz attempted to hold onto the Grand Master’s legs and avoid Valentino’s pistol while she struggled with him for possession of the staff, intent upon wrenching it from the Master’s grip. Half of her body was hanging precariously over the side of the pit as she held onto the ivory staff with one hand and tried to get a clear shot at von Hetz with the other. She screamed and lost the pistol as her body slipped over the brink and she was forced to grab the staff with both hands. Von Hetz reached haphazardly over the edge of the pit and tried to grab her hand while D’Brouchart desperately grappled on the loose rock for a handhold as he was inexorably dragged further over the side into the gaping hole by the Cecile’s weight dangling from the ivory staff. Mark Andrew went to their aid and knelt beside the Apocalyptic Knight who had managed to get hold of the staff, easing some of the weight from the Master’s arm. They reached out together to Valentino and she grasped the German’s hand, but refused to let go of the baculus with the other.