Another wulver, an archer, turned upon Malfacian’s archers in the upper tiers of the arena. He was struck multiple times but he just kept on firing. He killed one and wounded another before they took him down.
Lukor realized that he was no longer in control of the situation, if he ever had been. Now emotion ruled the day.
The remaining four wulver children were cut loose, even as the now six wulvers took up positions around them to defend them. Five more fully armed wulvers went over the wall to join the growing battle, yet one was dropped by an arrow from above before he reached the arena. Two more wulver archers took up defensive positions against the archers above. Just a few seconds later they were joined by four more.
Debbie looked down at the battle in the arena, then at the growing one in the stands, and then back at Lukor. She knew the plan, they had gone over it again, and again. This was not it. Right now they could not expect support from the doctors on Earth or their strike team on their way to the Koth. She watched a dozen more fighters go over the wall, including three humans wielding swords. Others took up their bows to do battle with the archers above them. Their red uniforms made them easy targets for the wulvers. No this was all wrong. But they couldn’t just abandon those who had gone over the wall to help their fellows within the arena.
“You will pay for this insolence!” screamed Dre Kon. “Release the oarken, kindle the fire beneath the bull. “I command it!”
Within seconds two guards had lit the fuel beneath the bull. The distorted sounds coming from the depths of the bull intensified.
Debbie reached out for guidance, she felt like she had found it. She looked to Lukor. “Now is the time,” she said. “We’ve got to do it now.”
Lukor looked at her incredulously. “Twas not the plan!” he objected.
“Now,” repeated Debbie. “I know this is right.”
There was a pause. Lukor stood up. He gave the signal. Now.
Ron and Claudia stepped into Connie’s room to see David still with his hand on Connie’s forehead. David seemed to sense their presence though he never looked up or opened his eyes. “Do you have Jennifer Madura, Henry Moore, Sara Carter, and David Rabin among your patients here at the clinic?”
Ron looked over at Claudia.
“I just registered David Rabin ten minutes ago, he came in from Israel,” said Claudia. “The others came in yesterday, Sara and Jennifer in the morning, Henry in the afternoon. They are in rooms 139, 146, and 147”
“You’re sure?” asked Ron, looking somewhat surprised.
“Positive,” confirmed Claudia.
“You need to get them on the FENS machine now,” said David. “They won’t be alive for very much longer.”
“I don’t know if we’re ready,” replied Ron.
“You have to be,” insisted David.
Ron turned to Claudia. “See to it that the patients are prepared and brought to the FENS lab. I’m on my way there right now.”
The two headed their separate ways. Just thirty seconds found Ron in the control room. He discovered Dr. Wilson at the FENS controls and Dwayne at the emitters in the lab.
“There’s trouble,” warned Ron. “We have four patients that are going to die right now if we don’t pull them back.”
Wilson quickly looked to Dwayne.
“The alignment is good enough,” replied Dwayne. He paused. “I think.”
Wilson looked at the coil temperature. “Negative 228 Celsius.”
“Good enough?” asked Ron.
Wilson hesitated. “Probably will be by the time we have the first patient prepped. Let’s go.”
The strike team was on the move. Led by Abaddon and Lenar they moved through the hole in the web and to the right, toward the sea. Abaddon and Lenar swung around attacking the hoard of spiders from the air. Again and again they attacked them with their swords, cutting and slicing. The others closed in upon their huge enemies attacking them on a narrow front near the sea.
The entire spider army turned toward them, pivoting about, cutting off their avenue of retreat back to the hole in the web. Then they began to close in on them, tightening the noose about them. It seemed that their quarry had made a fatal error, one they would now capitalize on. The only things that were holding them back were the two dark winged beings and the poison arrows of Kadra.
Kadra’s accuracy had been uncanny. She was four for four with those arrows and each one had dealt a deadly blow. But she only had three left. If only she’d had enough of the poison to make more.
All the while Camron and Satar moved unnoticed amidst the dark shadows of the cliff face. They could see the big mamma within the ship, yet her gaze seemed to be focused upon the battle by the sea. They continued their trek around the ship, mindful of any other spiders.
Two more spiders moved under the ship to reinforce the dwindling numbers of their fellows. The others were taking a toll upon them, there could be no doubt. But there were so many of them.
They scanned the cavern around them. No other spiders came into their view. Soon they had traveled far enough that they could no longer see the great spider’s eyes through the doorway. They made their move, running toward the ship, hoping that they were right and the spider had indeed committed her entire brood to the attack by the sea. She was vulnerable, open to attack. Or, at least, that was the theory.
They now stood by the door, just out of sight of the great spider. Camron looked to the battle by the sea. The smaller spiders had tightened the circle about the defenders and seemed about to push them into the deadly waters. It was now or never.
Satar stepped out to discover that the beast had retreated further back into the ship. He could still see the glistening eyes of the beast, but barely. Camron threw a few glowing crystals to illuminate the creature. It was bigger than they had imagined. Indeed, it wasn’t at all certain that it could even fit through the door due to the enormous size of its abdomen.
Immediately Satar left one of his arrows fly. It hit its mark in the midst of the creature’s eight black glossy eyes. He fired a second with equally successful results. Yet the next two missed the mark, for the creature was now maneuvering about. They struck the beast’s hard chitinous shell and bounced off. The spider swung clumsily about, directing its bloated black abdomen toward the door. It fired several high speed streams of milky fluid that seemed to solidify on contact with any surface. Clearly this was the tool with which it spun its web, yet it was also a potent weapon, immobilizing any creature in the path of the spray. The spray missed Satar by only by a few feet.
Satar fired again, this time hitting the great beast near the spinnerets, the organs that fired forth the web. This too seemed to be a soft spot and the arrow sank deep. Still the poison seemed to be having no effect. Satar fired two more arrows but they didn’t seem to be doing anything. His frustration grew as he fired his last arrow. He drew his sword.
Camron looked across the cavern to see the smaller spiders. They had broken off their attack with the others and were heading in this direction. He drew out the sphere Kadra had entrusted him with and jumped up onto the ramp.
“Run,” he cried, as loudly as he could.
“No, Camron!” objected Satar. “The honor is mine.”
“Not this time,” said Camron darting up the ramp toward the spider.
He narrowly avoided two web shots and prepared to throw the sphere. He was inside the craft now. This room was as huge as it was ancient. Metal I beams the color of gold ran up the walls all the way to the ceiling a hundred feet overhead. Here they converged toward the center forming a radiating pattern not so different from a spider’s web. He couldn’t help but notice a spiral staircase that ran along the wall, vanishing into an opening in the ceiling high overhead. To one side of the room were a mass of human shaped cocoons bound together with a maze of webs and bleached bones. And interspaced among them were what looked to be eggs. Indeed, most of the eggs were attached to the cocoons near what one might imagine was the belly if in
deed these cocoons contained human beings. He practically freaked out when he noticed motion in one of the cocoons. He took a step back. He took aim at the floor beneath the spider and tossed the sphere. Then he ran diving off the ramp. The detonation was immediate, loud, and very bright. The spider was virtually incinerated by the heat and blast. Fire roared from the hatchway and out into the cavern, but by then Camron was face down on the cavern floor.
Camron looked up to see about a dozen of the smaller spiders rapidly bearing down upon him. A moment later they gathered at the hatchway. Several even proceeded blindly into the flames not to return. The others just stood there in silence.
Then, one by one, they simply wandered off, oblivious to either Camron’s or Satar’s presence. Camron made no attempt to stop them. Satar walked up to the youth.
“A mighty brave act for one so small,” he laughed. “I salute you.”
Camron only nodded.
The others quickly surrounded Camron. They had suffered a few cuts and scrapes but all were intact.
Camron tried to rise to his feet only to feel the pain. He quickly realized that his leg was broken. “I didn’t take that fall well,” he lamented. “What a stupid thing to do.”
It was several minutes before the radiant heat from within the craft subsided enough to allow the group to enter. Not much was left of the spider that had once called this place home. It was a blackened hulk. Amazingly the hull had withstood the blast intact, as had the spiral staircase.
“That is where we need to go,” announced Kadra. “I know this place now. I’ve seen it through my mind’s eye. The drell priestesses came here from time to time though I was forbidden to set foot in this place. But I know the center of their power is up there.”
“Then that is where we shall go,” announced Lemnock.
“If it is all the same to you I think I’ll wait here,” said Camron, wincing in pain.
“I shall tarry with you,” said Lenar.
The rest headed toward the stairway. This ten-foot-wide stairway must have been quite magnificent in its time with its golden railing and white marble floor. However, that day ended about ten minutes ago. Now it was dusty and cracked, littered with debris.
The group quickly ascended. As they did so the severity of the damage to the stairway decreased. Before them they saw light coming from whatever was beyond this violated lower chamber. Finally, they emerged into a great room that caught them totally by surprise. Gone was the stench and decay they had become so accustomed to during this sojourn. This was a great room of light.
A network of glistening cables that looked to be made of glass radiated out from the center of the room. Each of the cables looked to be filled with starlight that swirled through them like so many fireflies on a summer’s night. It was like nothing any of them had ever seen. Even Abaddon seemed impressed.
They walked amidst the radiating tubes of light toward the center of it all. Here was a large spherical crystal, radiating brightly, suspended in a cloud of light. It was an amazing place and it felt good to be here, though none could explain exactly why. They were but twenty feet from it when Abaddon bid them go no further.
“To venture closer is dangerous,” he warned. “The radiation from the crystal is deadly. We cannot tarry long. Even at this distance we could survive for but a short time.”
“So how do we destroy it?” asked Marlock.
“Someone needs to go in there and destroy the crystal within the very field that contains it,” announced Kadra, pulling out a large hammer. That someone needs to be me. This smiths hammer shall do nicely to destroy it. All of you must be far away when it happens.”
“Why you,” asked Satar. “You are the high priestess.”
“And my services are no longer needed,” noted Kadra.
“You are needed,” insisted Lemnock. “Lukor will be no good without you. Do you not see that?”
“I’ll do it,” announced Camron, stepping forward with Lenar’s help.
“He insisted on coming up here so I brought him,” said Lenar.
“No, you must go back to Earth,” objected Kadra.
“No,” replied Camron. “I don’t think so. The only thing waiting for me back on Earth is death.”
“I don’t understand,” said Kadra.
“I have cancer,” said Camron, “advanced lymphoma. I’ve had it since I was twelve. It’s incurable. I go back to Earth; I go back to meet my own death. It’s just that simple. I never told anyone how I came to be here. I am different. I stepped into this world with my eyes wide open.”
“What?” gasped Kadra. “I don’t understand.”
“It happened at our local pub,” Camron began. “It was my sixteenth birthday and we’d invited the entire town. You see, my parents knew I wouldn’t likely have a seventeenth. That night it was eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow I die. I met this girl there, a very pretty one. She made me a bargain. She asked me how much I would give to be rid of the pain, to be healthy again. I told her that I’d give anything. Then she asked me if I’d even give up my freedom, become a slave to her masters. She told me what I was in for, yet I still agreed. I was in so much pain that evening. The bargain was made. Two days later I was here.”
Kadra looked on in astonishment.
“I can’t go back. Don’t you see? Here my death will mean something. Here I don’t have cancer. I’m as complete a person as I can possibly be. I’m staying here. What do I need to do?”
His proclamation was answered by silence.
“Come on,” insisted Camron. “You know that every minute might mean the loss of someone else’s life. What do I need to do?”
“You need to give us about half an hour to get away,” began Kadra. “We can’t afford to wait any longer. During that time, you need to wait here. Do not draw closer to the crystal. Then you need to proceed forward to the crystal. Strike it with the hammer. Strike it with force. That is all there is to it.”
Kadra handed Camron the hammer. She hugged him.
“I got it,” said Camron. “OK everyone. It’s been fun.”
There was no time, but everyone took a moment to say their goodbyes. It wasn’t easy, especially for Lemnock and Kadra.
“I will remain with Camron for a time,” announced Abaddon. “I can cover in a minute or two the distance you might cover in an hour. Now go. My mission and that of Lenar is at an end. We must return to that place where we belong even as you must go onto your own destiny. Now go.”
The group departed leaving Abaddon and Camron in the beautiful glow of this magical place. Camron watched as they vanished from sight. Then he turned to Abaddon.
“Thank you for staying with me,” said Camron.
“It is my honor,” said Abaddon.
“Then we have about a half an hour?” asked Camron.
“About,” confirmed Abaddon.
“I can ask a lot of questions in half an hour,” continued Camron.
“I’m sure you can,” replied Abaddon.
“But will you answer them?” asked Camron. “I mean; your secrets will be safe. I’ll never get to tell anyone what you tell me.”
For the very first time Camron heard Abaddon laugh. It was a full good hearted laugh. “Oh, is that so? You think you’ll never get to tell this story again do you?”
“Will I?” asked Camron, his tone suddenly hopeful.
“Is that your first question?”
“Yes,” said Camron.
“Then that will be my first answer.”
Chapter 25
Sara Carter struggled in her chains but it was futile. The darkness seemed to be closing in on her even as the heat and stench increased. She could hear the crying of the others, hear that terrible reverberation of the bull. Then, in the distance she heard someone call her name. She tried to call back to them.
“Help me,” she cried in a voice barely above a whisper. “Oh please help me.”
“Come to me Sara,” called the voice that seemed closer now. It w
as a woman’s voice. “Come to my voice.”
“I can’t,” wept Sara.
“Yes you can,” assured the voice. “Just move toward me, you can do it.”
Sara tried, she imagined herself moving toward the voice and as she did she could feel the air getting cooler, her surroundings lighter.
“You’re doing it Sara,” said the kind voice. “Keep coming.”
The heat, stench, and fear vanished to be replaced with another odor. It was a clean even disinfected odor. Then she opened her eyes. It was so bright. Amidst the brightness she saw a kind yet unfamiliar face. It was the face of a middle aged woman.
“You’re here,” said the woman.
Sara felt a slight sting in her right arm. Her world came into focus. “I was in the bull,” she said.
“Not anymore,” said the woman. “You’re home, and you’re never going back there.”
Sara felt someone removing some sort of tight fitting cap from her head. Then there were hands upon her moving her from a table to a soft bed. There were others here dressed as nurses and orderlies.
“They’ll be taking you back to your room,” said the woman. “Your mother will be there to meet you in about ten minutes or so. The nightmare is over.”
No sooner had Sara been moved off the FENS table than Henry Moore was moved onto it and the headset was placed upon him.
“I don’t think we have much time,” warned Sybil. “It may be only a matter of minutes.”
“I know,” said Ron, working quickly to get their next patient prepped. “I pray we can get all four.”
The heat had become unbearable. The walls of the bull burned her skin. There was so much pain. Jennifer was certain that she was losing her mind. Three times she had seen glowing ghostly apparitions in the darkness of the bull. Perhaps it was her friends dying and becoming spirits bound for their final reward. Yet now the glow had returned again and this time it was she who was the source of it. She felt a sudden coolness, a sense of peace, even as the pain subsided. Then there was intense light. She opened her eyes to see a handsome young man who appeared to be in his thirties. He was dressed in the white lab coat of a doctor.
The Realm of the Drells Page 37