The Dragon's Wing Enigma (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 3)

by N. S. Wikarski

  Maddie gave a timeout signal. “Whoa! Everybody back up and start at the beginning. Tell us exactly what happened right after you put the fake relic in the ground.”

  They all began talking at once but somehow Maddie and Faye were able to piece together the string of events that led to Griffin’s and Erik’s injuries.

  “You should have been stationed inside the cave,” the Operations Director told Erik reproachfully. “If you’d been there, he wouldn’t have gotten shot.”

  The Security Coordinator rolled his eyes and murmured to his teammates, “I told you she was gonna blame me.”

  “It wasn’t his fault.” Cassie rushed to his defense. “He was on the summit trying to head off trouble when everything went down.”

  Maddie relented. “Since you’re all still breathing, I guess that counts as a win.”

  Faye nodded. “Indeed. That’s the main thing to remember. We are deeply indebted to the quick thinking of the Basque sentinel. A man like that ought to be working for the Arkana.”

  “Way ahead of you there,” Erik said. “Since Iker is basically out of the sentinel business because of us, he has a lot of free time. Ortzi asked him to head up security at the Basque trove.”

  “You might actually get a chance to meet him,” Cassie said. “I put him in touch with Grace Littlefield and he’s decided to come to America to visit his long-lost relative. I told him Chicago was right in the neighborhood.”

  “That was a bit of a stretch,” Maddie objected.

  “So I shaved off a few hundred miles.” Cassie equivocated. “You want to meet him, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” Faye agreed. “We owe him a great deal.”

  “So all’s well that ends well,” the Pythia prompted. “Right?”

  “Certainly.” The Memory Guardian smiled. “Our team has returned alive and the bait has been taken by the Nephilim.”

  “According to Hunt’s last call to Metcalf before he left Spain, everything was fine. Of course, he didn’t mention anything about a scuffle in the cave. Maybe that’s a good thing or I would have been fretting.” She paused and added pointedly for Erik’s benefit, “Fretting even more than I already was.”

  The Security Coordinator adopted a blameless expression. “We didn’t want to worry you while Griffin was getting back on his feet.” He regarded his teammate ruefully “Sorry, man, bad choice of words.”

  “How long will you be confined to a wheelchair?” Faye asked worriedly.

  “I’ve been instructed to visit the Vault physician for regular checkups but it should only be a matter of weeks.”

  “Thank heavens,” Faye said. “We’re both very relieved to hear that there’s no permanent damage.” She glanced at the metal box on Cassie’s desk which had gone unnoticed during the interrogation. “Now that we’ve sorted out what happened last week perhaps we should turn our attention to this interesting little item. There was no time to talk about the artifact itself in the rush to have it duplicated.” She slid the box closer to Cassie. “Can you read anything else from it, my dear?”

  The Pythia shook her head as she removed the relic from the box and held it in her palms. “Afraid not. I’m starting to notice a pattern here. It’s like each of these objects has a message for me when I pick it up for the first time. Once I get that message, it doesn’t have anything else to tell me. Whatever I was supposed to know got transmitted to me when Grace handed me the artifact at the Haudenosaunee trove.”

  She placed the object in the middle of the desk. Her companions all moved closer to regard it with keen interest.

  “What kind of bird to you think it is?” the Pythia asked.

  Griffin picked up the artifact to inspect it. “It appears to be a dove in flight.” He squinted appraisingly. “And it’s carved out of pure lapis lazuli, unless I miss my guess. Very delicate craftsmanship on these outstretched wings.”

  “There’s some writing on the breast,” Maddie observed.

  “Yes,” Griffin agreed wistfully. “But it’s little enough to go on.”

  “Like I said back at the trove,” Cassie reminded him. “Fewer words don’t necessarily translate to an easier clue.”

  “What do the symbols mean?” Faye urged.

  Griffin placed the lapis dove back on the desk. “I had some time to work on the translation while I was recuperating in Spain. It says: ‘One dove flies to wake the helmsman. The course he sets reveals his fate.”

  “That’s it?” Maddie sounded shocked.

  “I’m afraid so,” the Scrivener agreed.

  “I guess our Minoan buddies figured we should be on to their tricks by now,” Erik concluded.

  Maddie stared at him. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning they use these relics to give navigational bearings. They went easy on us with the first two sets of riddles. Now they’re writing in shorthand.”

  “Hmmm,” the Operations Director growled. “Cryptic is never good.”

  “At least we know that the dove is supposed to be used to find latitude,” Cassie observed helpfully. “If the riddle says she’s waking somebody, then that would mean morning. Since the sun rises in the east, that’s the direction we should go.”

  “East from Spain,” Griffin corrected.

  “Right,” the Pythia agreed. “They had no way of knowing the relic would end up in North America.”

  “So does that mean you have to go back to Greece and Turkey?” Maddie asked.

  Griffin shook his head. “I think not. Judging from the size of the dove and the fact that the riddle only mentions one for measurement purposes, the latitude in question is well south of either Greece or Turkey.”

  “But that could be only one place,” Faye murmured. “Africa.”

  “Yeah, we figured that much,” Erik agreed. “But Africa is a pretty big continent. Thousands of miles across.”

  “We thought we’d calculate the latitude and work our way from the west coast to the east,” Cassie explained.

  Maddie raised an eyebrow. “That’s still an awfully big chunk of real estate and some of those countries are a little dicey as tourist destinations. Especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for.”

  “This design may offer an additional clue.” Griffin pointed to the dove’s back. The area between the wings was encrusted with gems.

  Maddie focused on the jewels as if seeing them for the first time. “There’s a fortune sitting on that little birdie’s backbone. I know because I had to spring for the sparklers that went onto the fake.”

  “Why didn’t you just substitute paste rocks?” Cassie asked.

  “Because if Metcalf ever had the dove examined by a jeweler, the jig would have been up,” Maddie countered. “It had to look completely authentic.”

  “We think aside from the monetary value of the gems, the design is meant to tell us something.” Griffin traced his fingers over the dove’s back. “A circle of diamonds with seven emeralds scattered in the center.” His finger stopped tracing and rested on a red gem. “And then the diamonds that comprise the circle are interrupted at opposite ends by two rubies—one larger than the other.”

  “It’s a fair bet that the diamonds are meant to stand for calendar stones,” Erik remarked. “The Minoans really have a thing for big rocks in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Africa is riddled with megalithic formations,” Faye said. “And they’re scattered over thousands of miles.”

  “Looks like you won’t have much downtime,” the Operations Director commented.

  “We have to wait until Griffin can get around,” Cassie demurred. “And I don’t mean on crutches either. He’s got to be ready for the rough stuff in the field. That could take a month or two.”

  “In addition, there may be a time element associated with these mysterious stones,” the Scrivener said. “If they’re anything like what we encountered on Ida, an astronomical event is a key component of solving the riddle. I haven’t cracked that bit yet.” His voice held a note of worry.
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  “It doesn’t matter. You three have seen all this before.” Maddie tried to sound encouraging. “You know how the Minoans think now. This next retrieval should be a slam dunk.”

  The Arkana team remained ominously silent.

  Faye was the first to speak. “Things which appear simple at first glance are rarely what they seem to be.”

  “Like she said.” Cassie nodded vigorously. “I’ve got a feeling that whatever is coming next will be something we’ve never seen before.”

  “Does that thought disturb you? Does it make you want to give up?” Faye asked pointedly, apparently already guessing the answer.

  The Pythia gave a mischievous grin. “As long as there’s a prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box, you know we’re gonna turn it upside down and shake it. It’s what we do.”

  “Was that some new kind of American slang?” Griffin asked in puzzlement.

  “Erik can explain it to you.”

  Maddie stood abruptly as a signal that the meeting was over. “It looks like you’ve all got enough research to keep you busy until Griffin heals up. As for me, I have someplace to be right now.”

  “An urgent meeting in the chimney,” Erik observed slyly as he rose to turn Griffin’s chair around.

  “Don’t be so cocky, kid. You’re still not off the hook as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Oh, Maddie, leave the boy alone. He’s injured.” Faye leaned heavily on the desk in an attempt to stand.

  Cassie flew out of her chair to assist the old woman to the door and then stood aside to allow Erik to wheel Griffin out.

  After they left, she remained leaning in the doorway and watched them retreat down the hall.

  She heard Erik say, “So, Grif, how about we shoot some hoops later?”

  “Shoot some hoops? Are you mad? I can’t even walk properly yet, nor can you.”

  “It was a joke, man, relax.”

  Then Cassie caught the echo of Faye confiding to Maddie, “...standing up to you the way she did. Our new Pythia certainly has pluck, don’t you think?”

  “I can think of several choice words to describe what she’s got but ‘pluck’ isn’t one of them.” She added grudgingly, “At least she’s on our side. Now where the hell did I leave my lighter?”

  Cassie gave them all a final affectionate glance before shutting the door behind her. For the first time in her life, she felt that she was home.

  THE END

  NAMES YOU SHOULD KNOW

  (Through The End Of Volume 2 In The Series)

  Key to books in the series:

  GK – The Granite Key

  MM – The Mountain Mother Cipher

  Abraham Metcalf – Prophet and autocratic leader of the Blessed Nephilim. In his seventies.

  Annabeth – Third wife of Daniel. Nervous and high-strung. Wants to improve her position in the Nephilim hierarchy by birthing more children.

  Archwarden – Leader of a Nephilim satellite compound.

  Arkana – Secret organization whose mission is to retrieve and protect the artifacts of lost pre-patriarchal civilizations around the globe.

  Blessed Nephilim – Fundamentalist religious cult which traces its lineage to the Nephilim of the Bible. They practice polygamy, live in isolated compounds, and maintain a strict separation from the rest of the world.

  Bones Of The Mother – Collection of Minoan artifacts which have been hidden among the ruins of forgotten civilizations on every continent. Each artifact provides clues to the location of the next relic. Collectively, they will lead to the location of the Sage Stone.

  Cassie Forsythe – Psychic with the ability to touch an artifact and relive scenes from its past. She succeeds to the title of Pythia within the Arkana after the murder of her sister. Nineteen-year-old college freshman at the beginning of the story.

  Central Catalog – Abandoned rural schoolhouse outside the Chicago metro area which contains the global records of Arkana troves throughout the world. Also known as “the Vault.”

  Chief Scrivener – Person responsible for managing the records of the Arkana Central Catalog. The title is currently held by Griffin.

  Chopper (Orvis) Bowdeen – Friend of Leroy Hunt. Hired by Abraham Metcalf to provide weapons training to the Nephilim.

  Chris (David Christian) – Librarian at the Chicago Public Library who assists Daniel with his research and becomes his friend.

  Circle – Governing body of the Arkana.

  Concordance – General council of the Arkana.

  Consecrated Bride – Nephilim term for married women within the cult.

  Daniel Metcalf – Lesser son of Abraham whose skill with ancient languages has made him an unwilling participant in the quest to find the Bones Of The Mother.

  Diviner – Title given to the prophet of the Nephilim. A role currently occupied by Abraham Metcalf.

  Dr. Rafi Aboud – Foreign doctor with a mysterious past who has been hired by Abraham to perform experiments at a secret laboratory. The purpose of his experiments is known only to the Diviner.

  Erik – Martial arts and weapons expert, in his mid-twenties. His job is to protect the Pythia on field assignments and arrange for the safe transportation of artifacts. His title is Security Coordinator.

  Fallen – Term used by the Nephilim to describe inhabitants of the outer world. Anyone who doesn’t belong to the cult.

  Faye – Elderly leader of the Arkana. She holds the title of Memory Guardian. Her age is unknown but it may exceed normal human limits.

  Griffin – Chief Scrivener. He is responsible for cataloguing all artifacts collected in troves around the world. British and in his early twenties, he has an eidetic memory.

  Hannah Curtis – Fourteen year old bride of Daniel Metcalf who is subsequently re-assigned to marry his father Abraham. Seeking a way out of her dilemma.

  Leroy Hunt – Mercenary currently on the payroll of the Nephilim. His job is to protect Daniel as they attempt to retrieve the Bones Of The Mother. He has no conscience and a taste for violence.

  Maddie – Short-tempered, chain-smoking Operations Director of the Arkana. She manages day-to-day global affairs.

  Matristic Civilizations – Arkana term for ancient goddess-worshipping societies which thrived without military fortifications, rigid social hierarchies, male dominance, or career warfare.

  Memory Guardian – Faye’s title as head of the Arkana.

  Operations Director – Maddie’s title as manager of global operations for the Arkana.

  Operatives – Members of Blessed Nephilim satellite communities assigned to help Daniel in the field. In order of appearance: Nikos (Crete-GK), Ilhami (Turkey-MM).

  Overlord Cultures – Arkana term for male-dominated warrior cultures fixated on territorial expansion through conquest and exploitation of indigenous inhabitants.

  Pythia – Title currently held by Cassie. The official seer of the Arkana.

  Rhonda – Antique store owner and Sybil’s former business partner. Surrogate big sister to Cassie.

  Sage Stone – Mythical Minoan relic which is reputed to possess great power. Nephilim prophecy reveals that this relic must be acquired by Abraham if his secret plan to orchestrate a global apocalypse is to succeed.

  Scion – Nephilim title given to the Diviner’s successor and heir-apparent. Daniel currently holds the position.

  Scouts – Field agents of the Arkana deployed around the globe. Individuals tasked with assisting in the retrieval of Bones Of The Mother. In order of appearance: Fred (Turkey-MM).

  Security Coordinator – Title currently held by Erik. He reports to the Operations Director.

  Sybil Forsythe – Cassie’s sister. Late Pythia of the Arkana.

  Trove – Arkana collection point for artifacts related to a specific geographic region or culture.

  Trove-keeper – Person appointed to manage the collection of artifacts at a particular location or trove. In order of appearance: Xenia Katsouros (Minoan-GK), Aydin Ozgur (Anatolian-MM), Stefan Kasprzyk (Kur
gan-MM).

  Tyro – Title which refers to an apprentice agent of the Arkana.

  Vault – Another name for the Central Catalog.

  Zachary – Faye’s fifteen year old descendent—often referred to as her “great-great-something-or-other grandson.” He has ambitions to join the Arkana.

  AUTHOR BIO

  "There's a 52% chance that the next Dan Brown will be a woman ... or should we just make that 100% now?" --Kindle Nation

  Nancy Wikarski is a fugitive from academia. After earning her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, she became a computer consultant and then turned to mystery and historical fiction writing. Her short stories have appeared in Futures Magazine and DIME Anthology, while her book reviews have been featured in Murder: Past Tense and Deadly Pleasures.

  She has written the Gilded Age Mystery series set in 1890s Chicago. Titles include The Fall Of White City (2002) and Shrouded In Thought (2005). The series has received People's Choice Award nominations for best first novel and best historical. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and has served as vice president of Sisters In Crime - Twin Cities and on the programming board of the Chicago chapter.

  She is currently writing the seven book Arkana Mystery series. Her work on the Arkana volumes has prompted Kindle Nation to call her one of its favorite authors.

  BOOKS BY N. S. WIKARSKI