Sentinels of Creation: A Tale of Two Gardens (Sentinel's of Creation Book 2)

by Robert Ross

  “I am happy to end your existence,” said Seramai dangerously.

  “No, I will not depart this world knowing it continues on. I have pierced the veil of time and knew this day would come. The Creator erred by leaving so basic a flaw in place. Now he breaks his own laws to intervene. I will resist Him. He would not hear me when I sought Him in life. I will not hear Him now, nor those He sends.”

  “Actually,” said Kellan, “It was more Lucifer than—“ He stopped when both Meghan and Seramai glared at him, then whispered, “What?”

  Meghan shook her head, “I swear, Kellan, sometimes you are so clueless. Don’t piss off the mummy any more than he is by —“

  “He’s actually more of a Lich than a mummy,” interrupted Kellan, then thought to himself, Which is another perfect example of what they’re talking about.”

  “Enough!” shouted Seramai and hurled himself at Imhotep again, sword raised even as Meghan unsheathed her katanas and darted up the dais stairs beside him.

  Crackling blue energy radiated from Imhotep and danced between Meghan and Seramai while also brightly illuminating the entire cavern. Kellan staggered as he felt his power wane, then reinforced Meghan and Seramai’s shields as he cast about with his eyes, noting again the strange winged shadow that appeared behind Meghan”

  “Are you going to sit there or help,” she yelled as Imhotep deflected blow after blow using a bejeweled staff that had previously been resting across his lap. After each deflection he would lash out at both with continual blasts of blue energy most, but not all, of which were absorbed by Kellan’s shielding.

  Seramai gave a triumphant roar as his gladius slid past Imhotep’s staff and severed skull from neck. The general raised both arms, muscles bulging and slapped his arm across his chest, then yelled again. Both he and Meghan’s eyes were burned a brighter amber than Kellan had ever seen them but the Sentinel paid it little mind as he sent a bolt of fire into the Annubis topped canopic jar. It shattered, leaving nothing but a molten puddle in its wake.

  Kellan looked back to Imhotep and cursed then moved around the room. He shouted to the still celebrating pair, “Watch your back! You can’t kill a Lich by decapitation.”

  They paused, stared first at each other, then turned back to the skeletal corpse which was just then reattaching its skull.

  “Well, shit,” said Meghan and launched herself into the fray but called back to Kellan, “How do we kill it.”

  The Osiris canopic jar was now a slag pile in front of Kellan and he answered through gritted teeth. “Have to destroy his phylactery.”

  “English Kellan!”

  “Damnit, Meghan. That is english. Read a book.”

  “Fuck you, Kellan,” she yelled, then saw a blast knock Seramai off the dais and burn deeply into his shoulder, “More shields!”

  “I’m trying!” yelled the Sentinel, then added, “Horcrux! A phylactery is a horcrux.”

  This has to be it, thought Kellan as he blasted the canopic jar that was topped with an image of Set. “There!” he shouted and looked back to his friends. One of Meghan’s katanas had been knocked aside and Imhotep swung his staff toward her unprotected head. Kellan’s heart skipped a beat as Seramai barely returned to the dais in time for his gladius to deflect the blow. The young Sentinel felt a cold dread rise within him. He felt his power waning and knew he couldn’t maintain the shields much longer. All the canopic jars were destroyed and nothing else appeared a likely candidate for Imhotep’s phylactery. What’s that, he asked himself as his eyes washed over a small, unadorned, clay jar laying on its side in one corner of the chamber. He sent an tendril of flame at the jar but it simply dispersed as soon as it came in contact with the clay. Kellan began to run toward the far corner of the chamber.

  He felt his body become covered with a sheen of sweat as he channeled ambient heat into himself and thrust his arm forward converting the beads of sweat to icy projectiles all of which puffed away when they hit the jar.

  “No!” shouted Imhotep from behind and Kellan felt energies being channeled in his direction. He reached inward and drained all that remained of his power praying his guess was correct. Meghan and Seramai’s shields dropped even as a brightly glowing wall manifested between Kellan’s back and the enraged Lich. The Sentinel felt it absorb a tremendous barrage then collapse, but he had already passed the peak of his leap and was arcing toward the small jar both hands clasping his Sentinel’s sword. It struck the canopic jar and for a moment Kellan thought it would withstand his attack, then hairline fissures began to glow.

  Imhotep screamed and began to shudder as he raised skeletal hands to his head in pain. Kellan heaved against the phylactery and felt his sword began to bite into the clay. Meghan and Seramai hacked at the animated corpse with abandon severing head and limbs as the phylactery finally shattered, succumbing to Kellan’s efforts. He pitched over, sliding down with his back against the cool wall. Seramai walked over to Imhotep’s skull and tapped it with his foot whereupon it collapsed to dust. Meghan clashed her katanas together and gave a whoop then proceeded to kick at all the remaining bits of Imhotep until all that remained were scattered piles of ash and the silently glowing portal.

  Kellan grunted and pushed himself up, back still against the wall, then slowly made his way to the dais. Seramai was talking softly to Meghan who tried to punch him twice before melting into his arms and taking deep, measured, breaths.

  Kellan stared into the portal’s black center and said, “Do you think we’ve earned safe passage?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Seramai.

  “The Gospel of Judas said we must earn safe passage.”

  “I’d say we earned that and more,” said Meghan who, Kellan noted, seemed to have come out the other side of her battle fury.

  Kellan closed his eyes and recited the full verse that brought them here.

  Beneath the lion whose human visage stares sightless forever shall god’s uncheck hand join with perdition’s progeny to bewray the mantle of war. This trinity may earn safe passage to one whose victories art recount’d in spirals up to the sky. At which hour god and man embrace yond which is neither, the path to those who is’t seek creation’s end becometh manifest

  As the last word faded, the portal flashed once and its inky black center cleared to display a corridor lit only by the portal’s own glow.

  Seramai clapped the Sentinel on the shoulder. “Well done, Sentinel of Order. It seems we now go on to one whose victories spiral up to the sky.”

  The two men turned to Meghan who waved her hand in negation. “I’m done being point for now. One of you go first.”

  Chapter 19

  A God Revealed

  Kellan ran his fingers along the polished stone, then looked back to Seramai and Meghan. “Looks like this was a oneway trip. I don’t see any means to reestablish the portal to Imhotep’s cavern.”

  Meghan walked up beside him and frowned. “I don’t understand why it would vanish as soon as I came through. How could it know there weren’t more than three of us?

  Kellan shrugged, “No idea.”

  “This trinity may earn safe passage,” said Seramai as he stumbled, reaching out to brace himself against the tunnel wall. “If we made it this far, it was going to be the three of us, so after the third of us passed through, the portal had done its work.”

  Both Kellan and Meghan had gathered around him, looking concerned. He smiled at her wanly and said, “I think that last bolt made it all the way though our Sentinel’s best efforts to shield us.”

  Meghan gently undid the clasps that held Seramai’s ermine cloak to his leather breast plate and slid the shoulder straps aside. She gasped as blood and puss poured out from the wound then yelled for Kellan to get her emergency tissue sealant while she pressed both hands to the wound. The Sentinel had been through this before so knew to look for the small white aerosol can stored in her left shoulder pocket.

  “Why doesn’t he just heal himself like before,” he asked as he r
emoved the safety cap.

  Seramai’s eyes fluttered open, “Rules, my young Sentinel. Always rules. That creature wielded energies that are beyond my power to heal.”

  “Well, that is damned inconvenient,” said Kellan as he held out the spray bottle. “Do you want to do it,” he asked.

  “No,” answered Meghan, “I need to keep pressure on this. I think it may have nicked an artery.” Meghan’s voice had become deadly calm and clinical as she gently lowered Seramai to a seated position. Kellan knew that voice. He’d heard it on tapes played by her Psych Officer during PTSD sessions that he and her family had attended. Meghan had the rare ability present in few of the best Medivac officers to completely disconnect her emotions in order to make the best decisions for trauma patients. Kellan swallowed hard because he knew the toll it would take on her when those emotions returned. They would demand payment, with interest. She knew it too, and for her to make the decision to detach in this way meant Seramai was in bad shape. The former Marine turned to Kellan with emotionless eyes. “Take the red tube attached to the can, insert it into the nozzle, and place the tube between the space made by my crossing index and middle fingers.”

  Kellan did.

  “Good, now depress the nozzle for a count of three and release.”

  Seramai gasped slightly as the pressure cooled foam forced its way into his wounded shoulder. He took a deep breath and smiled at Meghan grimly as the anesthetic did its work. “Remarkable. I feel much better. Is this what saved you from the Afghanistani werewolves?”

  “It helped,” she said, “but not enough to save me. It’s just meant to be a temporary measure until real help can be brought to bear.” She gave Kellan a meaningful look. The Sentinel had created an empathic link with Meghan after she was mortally wounded and used that link to heal her, nearly dying in the process.

  He crouched down eyes coming to light and looked to Meghan, “I can try.”

  Seramai held up his good arm and waved a hand in negation. “No, you are needed ahead. I will be fine. I just need a few moments without vast magical energies being directed at me.” He paused having gotten no reaction. “That was a joke.”

  Kellan smiled and gave a forced laugh.

  “Never mind,” began Seramai his eyes turning to Meghan, “Help me up, my valkyrie. I believe I know what’s ahead and it shouldn’t be far.”

  She shook her head. “If you move, the seal could be broken and you will bleed out.” The former Marine took a deep breath and focused on Seramai. “You must manifest.”

  Kellan saw the large man stiffen and his eyes went hard looking first to Meghan and then to Kellan before returning again to her. “No. Everything will change. Things will be different between us. No.”

  He had turned away again. Meghan reached up and placed two fingers against his chin, turning him to face her. “Nothing will change. I will not allow it. Do you hear me. I will not allow it.”

  Kellan saw the resolution in his friend and without understanding the context of their conversation in the slightest, he leaned forward and said, “Seramai, I’ve known Meghan Daugherty most of my life. If she says nothing will change, well, whatever wants it to change is just completely fucked, because,” he reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, “nothin’ is gonna change.”

  The general’s conviction seemed to waver and Meghan pressed the advantage. “You thought it might be necessary anyway if the Gospel referred to Trajan’s column.”

  Seramai sighed, “No longer an if my valkyrie. We are beneath Rome. I feel the blood of her warriors. The column lies ahead. You must help me reach it.” He started to rise but his strength gave out.

  “No,” said Meghan, “You might not survive even that far. You must do it now.”

  “I cannot,” he said, voice becoming resolute, “I suspect it must be done in the presence of the column. Just keep me alive that long. Were I to manifest here, we might win the battle to save my life but lose the war to save creation.

  Meghan opened her mouth to protest but Seramai placed a finger against her lips. “No more arguments. Now give me a kiss and help me up.”

  Kellan watched for the span of three heartbeats as Meghan processed this. He knew what would happen and so it did. Her emotional armor shattered like crystal and tears began to stream down her cheek as she leaned forward to kiss him. After long moments, she pulled back and he smiled up at her. She sighed and draped his good arm over her her shoulder, then gave him a stare that was strong as iron, “On your feet soldier.”

  Kellan moved to help but she waved him back as her eyes began to luminesce with the strange amber gleam that occurred so often when she and Seramai were together. Kellan summoned additional globes of light and saw the shadows behind her again, but forced his many questions down as they slowly made their way down the hall.

  Seramai’s thinking proved accurate and less than two hundred yards further, the tunnel widened slightly to accommodate a massive engraved column beyond which lay another dead end. The column rose from the floor and extended through the roof of the tunnel leaving a small gap through which the glint of moonlight could be seen far above.

  Kellan ran his fingers along the engravings that showed the birth and young life of a roman boy.

  “Trajan’s column,” rasped Seramai and he smiled at Meghan.

  She reached up and cupped his cheek, “Your column.”

  Kellan looked from one to the other and then back to the column. Pieces came together as perfect images of Trajan’s column flew through his mind and the Sentinel shook his head in disbelief, “Trajan’s column does not depict the boyhood of the Roman general, just his adult life.” He glanced up at the ceiling and the column that passed through it to the surface, then continued, “But I suppose that is just the portion visible to those above.” He turned to Seramai. “You are Trajan, 13th Emperor of Rome?”

  The general coughed and Meghan helped him lean against his column. “I was, Kellan, yes. I was he, but now am more,” he paused sadly then continued, “and in many ways less.” His knees started to buckle and Meghan took more of his support upon herself.

  “The time is now,” she said.

  Kellan shook his head, clearly frustrated at being kept in the dark about so many things, “Time for what!”

  Seramai leaned his chest against the column and spread out both his arms, as his face contorted in pain. Meghan released him and knelt down. She looked at Kellan, then leaned forward to stretch her arms around the stone in a manner similar to that of Seramai. “Now you,” she said, softly reciting from the Gospel of Judas, At which hour god and man embrace that which is neither, the path to those who seek creation’s end becomes clear.

  Kellan walked beside her and embraced the column, then looked down at his friend. “Meghan, I don’t understand.”

  She smiled. “I know, but you will.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then whispered, “I am man. You are neither. He is a god.”

  “What?” said Kellan looking at the general who’s eyes gleamed as he stared intently at Meghan.

  “You promised me, my valkyrie. You promised me.”

  She smiled. “I keep my promises.” Then lowered her head and spoke as if reciting, “By my honor, your servant calls.”

  Seramai stiffened and he replied, “By my honor, your master hears.”

  A gentle breeze flew through the tunnel as Meghan and Seramai exchange ancient vows binding them together.

  “By my valor, I pledge my spirit”

  “By my valor, I accept your soul”

  “By my oath, no will but yours”

  Tears were streaming down Seramai’s cheeks and he seemed desperately trying to avoid his next response, but the words ripped out from him, “By your oath, no will but mine!”

  Meghan’s voice rose and Kellan felt the crackle of creative energies gathering, “To War’s mantel I demand, drop all glamor from the Man!”

  Light exploded around them making the small tunnel so bright that Kellan
and Meghan both squinted against the blinding glare. Ribbons of energy swirled about the three, whipping up wind, and collecting around Seramai whose body gleamed as his wounds vanished.

  “Seramai,” called Kellan above the din. “Seramai…”

  The general looked down with eyes the glowed with brilliant amber fire, “No, Sentinel of Order. Seramai is gone.” He looked toward an unseen sky and yelled in a voice loud as thunder, “I. Am. Ares!”

  Ares tightened his embrace of the column which depicted his life before having become the very incarnation of War. He stepped back and said, “A god has embraced this task”

  Meghan stood and removed her arms, then glanced at Ares saying, “Man has embraced this task.”

  Kellan’s mind was reeling as he released his grip on the column and stumbled back against the tunnel wall. The other’s stared at him expectantly, and Kellan said slowly, “One who is neither man nor god has embraced this task.”

  Silence and darkness both washed over them, then a moment later the room glowed as a portal rotated into view.

  Ares screamed in anger and drove his fist though the tunnel wall and up to his wrist. Kellan put a hand gently on the god’s shoulder. “Seramai,” Ares glared at him, “I mean Ares, just give me a minute to catch the hell up, will you.”

  “She’s gone, Sentinel of Order. My valkyrie is gone. She promised me!”

  Kellan looked to Meghan who just said, “I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

  Kellan sighed as Ares pushed him out of the way and stood before Meghan. “Kneel and be silent!” he said.

  Meghan fell to her knees, head bowed.

  Kellan winced, “Yeah, that’s not good, I’ll grant you. But trust me, her inner bitch is alive and well in there somewhere. You just need to rouse it.”