“Sneaking off?” an irritated Gilgamesh said to Vantana, pulling himself up and using his height to its fullest advantage.
“Just hear me out,” the doctor began, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “If we don’t get Princess Iaira back to Ta Cathair, we’re all going to have more to contend with than a few broken rules. We don’t want a civil war beneath the sea anytime soon, right? So we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” The elevator finally reached the floor, and Gilgamesh eyed Vance for a moment.
“Well, when you put it that way, Ranger…,” he said, stepping off the platform. He cracked his knuckles as he walked to the entrance of the tower. Then he turned and crouched into a fighting stance. He was grinning. “I’ll take the hard way.” He gestured for Vantana to come forward. The ranger sighed, clearly displeased by the choice, and moved toward Gilgamesh. Tashi put a hand on the doctor’s shoulder, and he froze.
“I will handle this,” she said firmly. She walked past Vance, who caught her arm.
“I don’t think that’s wise. If the stories are true—and trust me, they are—he’s the greatest warrior who ever lived.”
“All the more reason why I should be the one to face him,” she said.
“But I can buy all of you some time to get away,” the doctor suggested. “Take Sam and Iaira and finish the mission.”
“It is unnecessary to risk your life,” she said, and then lowered her voice. “Just be ready to leave quickly once I draw him away from the door.”
Tashi strode forward, past her staff, which lay on the tower floor.
“At least use your shekchen,” Sam exclaimed.
“It is not safe,” she responded, thinking back to the blast at the cabin. Trying to draw power from Gaia might backfire now more than ever and in ways she could not possibly predict. It would be best to face Gilgamesh without her weapon and not risk endangering the others.
Tashi stopped a few feet away from Gilgamesh and took her fighting stance. She had fought large adversaries before, most notably the yeti during her escape from their hidden village. The difference was that the yeti were mostly driven by rage, while this opponent was cunning and much more experienced. She narrowed her eyes and nodded her head, signaling she was ready to begin.
“You’re going to let a little girl fight your battles, Ranger?” Gilgamesh scoffed.
“Now you went and made her angry,” Sam told him.
But Tashi of Kustos didn’t get angry, at least not in the traditional human sense of the word. Guardians were taught to never let anger or any other emotion interfere with a fight. Instead of anger, Guardians felt an overwhelming urge to right a wrong. Their motivation was justice, not fury or pride. In this case, the perceived wrong that needed to be immediately righted was this immortal’s belief that a Guardian’s height or gender had a detrimental impact on his or her abilities as a warrior. Gilgamesh needed to understand that he was sorely mistaken—and Tashi was especially looking forward to the “sorely” part. She sized up her opponent, as she’d been taught, and recognized that he was all muscle. This meant he wasn’t very nimble, and that gave her an advantage. Speed, endurance, stamina, were on her side, but she knew her biggest advantage was not physical. It was Gilgamesh’s bristling overconfidence.
“This should be quick and easy,” Gilgamesh said with a smirk.
“I agree,” Tashi replied, before launching her attack on the four-thousand-year-old, undefeated warrior king.
* * *
—
Sam London had never read The Epic of Gilgamesh, but he was about to witness the epic fight of Gilgamesh and the Guardian Tashi. He didn’t imagine Guardians got nervous, but that was okay. He had enough butterflies in his stomach for the both of them. Iaira gripped Sam’s arm, eyeing him with distress, while Sam looked to Vance for his reaction. The doctor sighed heavily and shifted his gaze back toward the impending spectacle.
Tashi didn’t waste any time getting started and propelled herself forward into four front flips. She threw her arm out to strike Gilgamesh but managed only to land a glancing blow on his right temple. A warning shot, Sam thought.
“Speed will not win the day,” Gilgamesh warned. But Tashi was already in front of him again, sliding across the slick stone floor. She moved to strike a second time, and Gilgamesh thrust out an open palm that caught Tashi in the upper chest, sending her staggering back from the force. She shook it off and aimed for Gilgamesh again, successfully dodging a jab from him. But he had anticipated her adjustment.
His other hand hooked in and landed solidly on her back, sending Tashi careening into a wall. Iaira gasped and tightened her grip on Sam’s arm. The Guardian deftly flipped herself over and pushed off the wall with her legs. Springing back toward her opponent, she took a shot at his face before spinning in the air and landing back in her fighting stance. This shot had connected hard, and a shocked Gilgamesh rubbed his jaw.
“Let’s end this nonsense, Ranger,” Gilgamesh said in a frustrated tone. “You will remain here a few days until it is safe to travel. I myself will arrange for your accommodations to stay in our finest hotel.”
“As tempting as that sounds, we can’t. Not now. Not with what’s hanging in the balance,” Vance told him.
Gilgamesh pivoted back to Tashi with a determined look. He began to take full advantage of the length of his arms and legs, deflecting the Guardian’s attacks and keeping her at bay. Tashi repositioned herself and seemed to be eyeing her opponent more carefully, choosing her moments to move in and take calculated shots. The fight raged on and involved wrestling, boxing, and several martial arts fighting styles, many of which Sam didn’t even recognize.
Gilgamesh was the quintessential unmovable object, and Tashi was the unrelenting force. Nothing seemed to faze her for more than a second—she just kept attacking, looking for weaknesses and testing his endurance. They appeared to be perfectly matched, until Tashi hung a spinning kick that nailed Gilgamesh in the face.
Not wasting a moment, the Guardian next came down hard on his foot, smashing it with a fist. Gilgamesh grunted and instinctively pulled his foot up off the floor. Tashi seized the opportunity and swept at the other leg. The big man crashed to the ground, and Tashi pounced, grabbing him in a sleeper hold. Gilgamesh grabbed at her arms, but she was already locked in. He slowly stood up, wavering, and then he began jerking his body this way and that, attempting to shake her loose. It was to no avail; Tashi was simply too strong to be thrown off. Gilgamesh thrust his body backward, hurtling toward the wall to smash Tashi against it, but at the last second she twisted her body around. Gilgamesh took the full brunt of the hit and collapsed into a sagging heap.
“Go!” Tashi exclaimed. Sam looked at the open path to the door. She did it! Now was their chance.
“C’mon!” Vance yelled to Sam and Iaira as he led them to the exit. They pushed open the heavy doors and came face to face with a battalion of scorpion men. Tashi looked up to see the group—a momentary loss of focus—but it was all Gilgamesh needed. He pulled her arms off him and flung her aside like a toy. Tashi went sliding across the floor before somersaulting and springing back up to her feet, ready to attack again.
“Now, hold on!” Gilgamesh bellowed, shifting his eyes between the fleeing guests and the indomitable Guardian. The mayor walked over to the door and waved his soldiers back, then leaned over to Vance. “If word spread through the Assembly that I allowed you to leave…”
“Oh, I get it now….You’re worried about the politics,” the ranger realized. Gilgamesh shrugged slightly, raising his eyebrows in a You caught me expression.
Sam had a thought. “What’s worse, Mr. Mayor, your people knowing you got your butt kicked by a kid a quarter of your size, or them finding out you let us off the island to stop a war?”
“Boy’s got a point, Gil,” Vantana said. “How about you let us go and everyone gets what t
hey want?” Gilgamesh considered it.
“You have five minutes to get off the island. After that, I turn on the volcanic jets and no one will be allowed to leave,” Gilgamesh replied, exasperated.
“We’ll be on the subway and off in two,” Vance told him.
“No, you won’t. The subways won’t run if the island is moving.”
“Then how are we getting off this floating rock?” Vance asked. Gilgamesh leaned in, his voice quiet.
“You need to get down to the harbor and see Cletus. He’s the only one who can get you off the island now…for a price, that is. Just don’t say I sent you. He hates me. We ran against each other for mayor, and he’s convinced he was robbed.”
“Why are you telling us this, exactly?” Vantana asked him, skeptical.
“Let’s just say I owe you a favor.” Before Vance could respond, Gilgamesh added, “It’s a long story and don’t make me change my mind. Your clock is ticking. My men will secure the dock before the jets fire. You’d better be gone by then.”
The mayor stepped away from the door and gestured for them to go. Sam waited for Tashi as the doctor and Iaira exited. The Guardian walked back toward the elevator to retrieve her shekchen before heading toward the entryway. As she was passing Gilgamesh, the mayor placed his hand on her shoulder. Tashi instantly spun like a top, ready for a fight, but Gilgamesh raised the other hand in a calming gesture.
“The fight is over. I merely wish to tell you that you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. A friend. I don’t make them easily, but now you have one for life.”
Tashi bowed, appearing genuinely honored by the sentiment, and then she joined Sam.
“That was epic!” he told the Guardian excitedly. Tashi smiled ever so slightly.
“Yes, it was, wasn’t it?” she said with a hint of pride as they walked out of the tower together.
* * *
—
Niles zipped them through busy canals, while Vance tried to make sense of the information gleaned from their contacts. First Squishy had said she knew him, and now Gilgamesh claimed to owe him a favor….It didn’t add up, especially considering he had never been to Atlantis. This was something he needed to ask Phylassos about, when the gryphon finally returned his calls, that is.
“We usually have a bit of a warning before the island sets sail,” Niles complained as he struggled against the current and hurtled over the rollicking waves. “But the crystal blinking out may have sped this up. Yous all wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would ya?”
“Can’t say we do,” Vantana replied, holding on tightly to the side rail of the platform as it rocked wildly. Niles nodded, but the doctor could tell he wasn’t buying it.
Minutes later, the now shaky-legged foursome stepped off the water taxi’s back onto the Atlantis harbor’s boardwalk. It was a surreal version of Pier 39, with bizarrely shaped boats and colorful shops selling unusual wares.
“Where would we find Cletus?” Vance asked Niles.
“End of that dock,” he said, nudging his long head in the direction of the main pier. “Can’t miss him.”
At a sprint they raced down the pier to the very end, but when they reached it, there was no one around.
“I thought Niles said we couldn’t miss him,” Sam said.
“Cletus?” Vance called out.
“Maybe he’s already left?” Sam wondered.
“If he has, then we are—” Before Vance could finish his thought, a massive creature breeched the waters at the end of the pier and dropped its jaw onto the dock. The entire platform shook, and the four of them barely stayed on their feet. It was a whale. A blue whale the size of a small cruise ship.
“Twenty orichalcum for a trip around the bay. Thirty for a trip and a picnic lunch,” the creature said in a deep voice. Sam leaned into Vance.
“Is that the whale—”
“I reckon it is,” Vantana told him, before addressing the creature. “We’re not interested in a trip around the bay. We’d like you to take us off this island right quick.”
“Why?” Cletus asked suspiciously.
“We’re on a case for Phylassos. We need to get to Cabo de Hornos National Park.” Vance retrieved a small pouch of coins. “We’ve got forty-five orichalcum.”
“Too far to go for such a small price,” the whale said dismissively. “I’m not a charity. Good luck.” He began to shimmy himself off the dock, back into the churning waters.
“Look!” Iaira called out, pointing down the pier. It was a battalion of scorpion men spreading out across the waterfront. Tashi turned toward them, preparing for a possible battle.
“They’re securing the area before the jets fire,” Vantana said, resigned.
“What are we going to do?” Iaira asked the doctor, who shrugged. He was fresh out of options.
“If Gil was telling us the truth, not much we can do.”
“Wait. I think I have an idea,” Sam whispered to Vance. “Follow my lead.” He began walking away from the end of the dock, where Cletus was just about to slip back into the water. “Aw, well. I guess Gilgamesh wins this round, Dr. Vantana,” Sam said in an exaggeratedly loud voice. Vance immediately figured out his play.
“Yeah, you’re right. This is going to make that old coot pleased as Punch. I hate it when he wins and, man, he always wins,” Vance added. Out of the corner of his eye, the doctor noticed that Cletus had come to a sudden stop at the edge of the dock.
“What do you mean, Gilgamesh will win?” the whale asked.
“He’s trying to keep us on the island,” Sam explained. “It’s complicated, but this is exactly what he wants to happen. Don’t worry. We’ll let the mayor know you helped keep us here. Maybe you’ll get a medal or something.”
“Taking you from Atlantis will upset Gilgamesh?” Cletus clarified.
“It’ll infuriate him,” Vance said.
“I’ve had a change of heart,” the whale replied. “Get in and leave those coins in the piggy bank. Hands off the snacks, though. I’m not that generous.”
The massive creature’s mouth opened wide, and Sam was stunned to see that it was also furnished. There was a bridge made of translucent material that arched over his enormous pink tongue, and in the very middle of the bridge were several movie-theater-style seats, as well as a small metal container that Sam speculated was a refrigerator. The four climbed into the whale’s mouth and up the narrow bridge to the seating area. Sam fist-bumped Vance on the way, and the doctor mouthed, “Well done.”
“Okay, we’re ready!” Sam informed the whale.
Cletus lifted his head slightly and closed his mouth—immediately plunging them into complete darkness. Sam felt the drop from the dock and heard a splash, then sensed forward momentum.
A few moments later, Iaira blurted out in the darkness.
“Are you speaking to me?” she seemingly asked no one. “Oh yeah,” she added.
“Who are you talking to?” Vance inquired in a hushed voice.
“Cletus,” she replied. “I can hear him in my head. I mean, he can’t talk, with us in here, obviously.”
“Of course,” Sam responded. “Can you mind-text him about the lights, then?”
“He can still hear you.”
“Oh, right. Are there any lights?” Sam asked out loud.
“He says, ‘Wait for it,’ ” Iaira responded.
There was a sudden rush of water, and Cletus’s mouth was illuminated with blue specks of twinkling light that created an otherworldly gleam inside his mouth.
“Well, I’ll be,” Vance said. “He just pulled in some of that bioluminescent phytoplankton. It’s like the ocean’s version of foxfire.”
It was still pretty dark, but they could at least vaguely see each other. And then there was a vibration sound, and another light source illuminate
d the space.
“Is that your phone?” Sam asked incredulously, pointing to Vance’s pocket.
“That’s odd. I don’t ever give out this number,” Vance said, baffled, as he pulled it out and hit the talk button. “Hello?” he answered.
“Were you the person who inquired about the model in one of our souvenir frames?” a female voice asked.
“It’s for you,” he said, handing the phone to Sam. “It’s that picture place.” It felt like years had passed since Sam had left a message at the souvenir photo frame company about his father’s picture.
“Hello?” Sam said anxiously. Vance could hear the woman, as her voice echoed inside Cletus’s mouth.
“Sorry for the delay. I wanted—to ge—back t—you,” the voice stammered as it began breaking up.
“Yes, hello? Hello?” Sam pleaded into the phone. “I’m losing signal!”
“We’re inside a whale deep in the ocean. I don’t imagine there’s a cell tower in here,” Vance said.
“Cletus just texted,” Iaira chimed in. “He isn’t a fan of passenger cell phone use during trips. It gives him a migraine. Books, on the other hand, are perfectly fine. The paper kind, of course.” Sam put his finger to his lips and pressed the phone to his ear, eager to catch anything that might come through. Vantana caught only a jumble of words from the woman on the other end. Something about privacy.
“I just need to know if his name is Marshall London,” Sam said loudly. There was no response. He pulled the phone away from his ear, and Vance noticed that the home screen read: “Call Failed.”
“Great! Just great!” Sam complained.
“Don’t worry, kid,” the doctor told him. “We can call back later.”
“Sure, whatever,” Sam said dejectedly, pushing the phone back into Vance’s hand.
“I know it’s frustrating, but why don’t we all just relax and get some rest. We sure as heck need it. That goes for you too, Tashi,” Vance said, sensing the Guardian was about to protest.
The Selkie of San Francisco Page 16