By now, everyone around the table was staring at him.
“When the bull turns the season,” he repeated, apparently expecting them to comprehend. When they didn’t, he continued. “It’s a clear reference to the vernal equinox.”
“The what?” Cassie asked.
Faye took up the explanation. “The vernal equinox is the date when days and nights are of equal length.” She turned to face Griffin. “But I don’t understand why you would necessarily connect a bull to that date.”
“I admit it’s a bit of a stretch,” the scrivener replied. “Due to precession, the constellation associated with the vernal equinox has shifted over time. Approximately every two thousand years, the sun rises on the equinox in a different constellation. It currently rises in Pisces and in a few hundred years will shift to Aquarius. At the time our Minoan friends buried their relic, the equinox would have occurred in the constellation of Aries the ram.”
“So how come they’re talking about a bull?” Erik asked.
“Because Minoan civilization first flowered when the equinox constellation would have been Taurus the bull. Their mythology continued the tradition of associating the vernal equinox with the bull long after it was no longer literally true.”
“But what’s this got to do with us?” Cassie urged impatiently.
“My dear girl, you really need to brush up on your astronomical phenomena. The vernal equinox is the first day of spring. It usually falls somewhere around March 21st.”
Cassie began to count excitedly on her fingers. “But that’s more than eight months from now!”
“Precisely,” Griffin nodded. “Hence my assertion that we have plenty of time to solve this riddle.”
“Which means you’re convinced we can’t find the relic til then?” Cassie asked dubiously.
“Well, it would certainly be consistent with what occurred on Ida,” Griffin replied. “If we hadn’t been in position at precisely that time of year, we wouldn’t have found the bee.”
“They’ve hidden these objects in space and time,” Faye observed.
“Eight whole months,” Cassie exhaled in wonder.
“We’ll still need to apply ourselves before then,” Griffin warned.
“Yeah, yeah,” the pythia dismissed him. “But not tomorrow.”
“And not next week either.” Erik glanced around at his companions. “I don’t know about you guys, but I vote for taking a week off.”
Faye and Maddie exchanged a look.
The memory guardian replied, “It’s fine with me if Maddie agrees.”
The operations director smiled wryly. “Go on. Get outta here.”
The trio didn’t need any further encouragement.
Erik sprang out of his seat.
Cassie stood up too. “All the things I could do with a week off.” She closed her eyes, imagining the possibilities.
Griffin collected his files and followed his teammates.
“There’s a beach in Tahiti I haven’t been to in a couple of years,” Erik said half to himself. “Just hanging out. Sun, sand, surf, island chicks.” He turned back to Maddie. “How about it, chief?”
“You expect me to foot the bill for that?” Maddie asked incredulously.
“Oh, come on. I risked life and limb on this last recovery. I deserve some R and R.”
She eyed him appraisingly and then said, “I suppose we can work something out.”
Taking that as a yes, Erik smiled happily and headed for the door.
Cassie followed him out. “I think I’ll get a pedicure.”
“A pedicure?” he echoed in disbelief.
“Hey, you relax your way, and I’ll relax mine.”
Griffin brought up the rear. “I confess I’m rather eager to get back to the vault. I miss my books.”
His companions sighed in exasperation.
“Griffin, you really need a chia pet or something,” Cassie muttered.
The trio happily continued to discuss their plans as they walked down the corridor. Maddie and Faye kept silent until their voices faded in the distance.
The operations director shook her head in disbelief. “They’re the oddest mix of characters I’ve ever seen in the field. It’s amazing they even found their way to the airport. Much less…” she trailed off.
Faye completed her thought. “Much less managed to accomplish the impossible.” She picked up the golden bee and considered it, smiling. “I don’t believe we’ve even scratched the surface of what they can do. Exciting times are in store for the Arkana, and they’ll be at the forefront of it all.”
“I can feel my ulcer acting up already,” Maddie groaned.
THE DRAGON’S WING ENIGMA
The Dragon’s Wing Enigma
Book Three of Seven – Arkana Archaeology Mystery Thriller Series
http://www.mythofhistory.com
Copyright © 2012 by N. S. Wikarski
Third Revised Edition 2017
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1 – Look Out
A Long Time Ago in a Land Far Away
They sat at the entrance to the cave watching the light fade over the peaks. There were two of them—a man and a boy. They didn’t speak but merely watched the sky and the valley floor below them falling into shadow. They could see smoke rising from the hills beyond. They didn't know how many had perished, but more deaths were sure to follow. Torches dotted the green pastures beneath their perch—evenly spaced—all climbing a single trail up the mountain. Fire in the sky and fire below. The torches grew ever brighter as the sky grew ever darker. Soon the lights would reach even this most secret of hiding places. The men who carried them lived for no other purpose—to ferret out what was hidden in order to destroy it.
The man sighed heavily and considered his options. The thought of leaving this refuge was painful, breaking a chain whose links had remained strong through more years than he could count. He had delayed until the last possible moment, hoping beyond all reason that the torch bearers might forget this place. The flames winding ever upward told him clearly that they had not forgotten. The world belonged to them now, and they were implacable in their determination to purge it of all contradiction.
There was no help for it. He stood decisively and tied up his small sack of belongings.
The boy regarded him gravely. He was no more than eight. “Are you going now?” he asked.
The man nodded.
The boy leaped to his feet. He plucked at the man’s sleeve. “Take me with you. Please!”
“You know I can’t,” came the sad reply. “And you know why.”
The boy looked at the ground, unwilling to meet the man’s eyes.
“Someone has to stay behind and say what happened.” The man crouched down and tilted the boy’s chin up. “Do you remember the words I told you?”
The boy nodded silently, a tear sliding down his cheek.
“The ghosts of all those who came before me are depending on you. You must not fail them nor me.” He wiped the tear from the boy’s cheek and tousled his hair.
The man straightened up and slung the bundle over his shoulder. He took a final wistful look at his sanctuary and at the boy he was leaving behind. Before the last rays of the sun failed completely, he slipped out of the cave and into the gathering night.
Chapter 2 – Hard Labor Day
Cassie pulled her car up beside the other vehicles already parked in the driveway of Faye's suburban farmhouse. She felt rested and ready for anything. The luxury o
f several weeks away from the Arkana and the relic hunt had given her a fresh perspective. After all, a girl could only endure so many threats on her life before needing to take a break for a pedicure. As she let herself in the front door, she could hear laughter and conversation coming from the back of the house.
“Hello?” she called tentatively. “Anybody home?”
“Everybody's already here,” an assertive female voice bounced down the hall.
Without needing to identify the source, Cassie responded, “Hi, Maddie.”
The pythia entered the kitchen where her teammates were lounging while their fearless leader Faye handed around serving dishes.
The tiny grey-haired woman smiled warmly at her latest guest. “Hello, my dear. We're just about to set up a feast in the garden. Would you mind carrying?” She held a bowl of potato salad out to Cassie. Turning in the other direction, she gave a platter of fried chicken to the lanky young man hovering at her shoulder. “Griffin dear, take this please.”
“Right you are,” he replied with alacrity.
“Late, as usual, toots!” Came a voice from a corner of the room.
Without batting an eye, Cassie replied, “I've got an image to uphold, dude. It's called being fashionably late.”
Erik grinned. “Sounds about the same as being annoyingly tardy to me.”
Maddie unceremoniously shoved a tray with a pitcher and glasses into his arms.
“Here, make yourself useful,” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am.” Erik's voice held only the slightest hint of sarcasm.
The group filed out into Faye's immense backyard with its ancient trees and assorted flower and vegetable plots. It was a postcard-perfect autumn afternoon: the sun shining in a cloudless blue sky, a slight breeze stirring gold-tinged leaves. The little band clustered around a long table set up under a canopy.
“You really went all out,” Cassie commented, stealing a radish from a bowl Maddie had just set down.
“Well, I thought something special was in order to welcome our intrepid crew back to work,” Faye replied.
“Welcome them back from what?” the operations director snorted. “Partying too hard? I've been busting my hump for the past six weeks while they've been cavorting.”
“You did say we'd earned a couple of days off, chief,” Erik reminded her.
Maddie flounced into a chair and lit a cigarette, apparently winded by the effort of fetching and carrying. “A few days?” she repeated pointedly. “Six weeks is your definition of a few days?”
“So maybe it was more than a few,” Erik relented, “but I needed some serious downtime. I mean I risked my life on that last recovery.”
Maddie blew a smoke ring, unimpressed. “Uh huh.”
“So where did you go?” Cassie asked, eyeing her newly-tanned teammate curiously.
“Beaches.” He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, savoring the memory. “Lots and lots of beaches.”
The pythia rolled her eyes, imagining how much female company he'd collected on those beaches. Transferring her attention to her other teammate, she asked, “What about you, Griffin? Please tell me you got out of the vault for at least a couple of days.”
The Brit smiled self-consciously. “A few, yes. I went to visit my parents in London.”
Erik turned his head to size up his colleague. “Sure doesn't look like you got any sun while you were there.”
Cassie noted that while both she and Erik had managed to achieve a healthy glow, Griffin was as pale as ever.
“It rained,” he said simply. He seemed eager to shift the conversation away from himself. “What about you, Cassie?”
“Pedicure.” She wiggled her sandal-clad toes.
Erik sat up in his chair and stared at her. “Really, that's it?”
“No, that's not all of it.” Cassie cleared her throat uncomfortably. “I finally got a chance to sort through the rest of Sybil's stuff. Given how long we've been away hunting down artifacts, it was the first real chance I had since...”
She trailed off. No one wanted to finish the sentence “...since Sybil was killed.”
“Sorry, toots,” Erik said in a low voice. “I didn't mean to—”
“It's OK.” She cut him short. “I'm getting used to the idea.” Brightening a bit, she added, “The apartment is starting to feel like my home now. That's new. I never had a place that belonged to me before.”
“Don't get too cozy,” Maddie cautioned. “You're gonna hit the road again pretty soon.”
At that moment, Faye shuffled over bearing a plate of homemade biscuits. She set them down and took the chair at the head of the table. “Maddie, let them enjoy one more day to relax,” she remonstrated gently.
“I'd say they've had plenty of rest,” the operations director grumped one last time before grinding out her cigarette and reaching for a drumstick.
Following her lead, the others dove into the feast laid out before them.
Faye smiled benevolently on them all as she passed around platters of fried chicken, corn on the cob, and cole slaw.
Griffin handed the memory guardian a tumbler of iced tea. “It's rather an interesting coincidence that we're launching our endeavor on your American holiday of Labor Day.”
“Labor Day,” Cassie echoed. “That’s always meant it was time for me to go back to school.”
“Yeah,” Erik added. “Except that now you’re enrolled in the school of hard knocks.”
“Our Nephilim foes certainly haven't made it easy for us,” Griffin concurred. Turning to Maddie, he asked, “Have you heard any news about our adversaries while we've been away?”
The operations director stopped gnawing on an ear of corn to consider. “It’s been tough getting any kind of information from inside the compound lately. Monitoring Leroy Hunt’s calls was our best source for crazy cult news, but it seems like they put him on furlough ever since that last relic was brought back.”
“There's no need for haste,” Griffin reminded her. “The clues indicate we won't be able to find the location of the next artifact for another six months.”
“But the Nephilim probably don't know that,” Erik corrected. “No matter how good their resident expert Daniel is, I'd be really surprised if he cracked that line of code before you do. If anything, he’s going to ignore it, and they’ll be on the road before we are.”
“It might be a good idea to get our act together soon,” Cassie agreed. “I mean, if we wait too long, they could stumble across the right spot ahead of us. Then what? They think we're all dead.”
“Let's recap what we know thus far,” Faye suggested helpfully. “Could one of you remind me of the riddle that's to lead to our next artifact?”
In unison, the trio of relic hunters recited: “Let Eurus fill the sails twelve days, then follow Eberos where it climbs to the sky. Set your course three bees from the dragon’s wing to the sea. When the bull turns the season, mark where the goat grazes the spinner’s peak. There lies the second of five you seek.”
Startled by their ready response, Faye said, “Oh, my.”
“Been thinking about that riddle much?” Maddie asked archly.
“Not just thinking about it, dreaming about it,” Cassie said ruefully.
“We all have, toots,” Erik concurred. “It’s been nagging at us because we still don’t know what the hell any of it means.” He turned to the Brit. “Griffin?”
“Sorry to disappoint but nothing occurs to me as yet. All we know with any certainty is that the bull is a reference to the vernal equinox, hence my observation that we won’t be able to find the relic until the beginning of spring. I also believe I made a slight error in translating the phrase ‘three bees.’ It should be ‘four bees’ actually. As for the rest of it, I’ll have to immerse myself in research for a while.”
“Great. Until Griffin has one of his usual brainstorms, that means we’re left twiddling our thumbs,” said
Erik.
“Your thumbs will be busy sorting through the stack of paperwork that’s been piling up on your desk,” Maddie told him.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”
“I have another idea for a way to keep Erik busy while our Chief scrivener is hitting the books,” Cassie offered.
Erik turned to regard her suspiciously. “You do, do you?”
“Yup,” the pythia answered. “You need to train me.”
“In what?” he demanded.
“Self-defense.”
The security coordinator laughed. “Considering how you slammed that Turkish thief on our last junket, I’d say you know plenty about how to defend yourself.”
“No, I mean real self-defense,” Cassie insisted. “Like what’s the quickest way to knock somebody out cold. Where’s the best place to shoot somebody to do maximum damage without killing them.”
Erik stared open-mouthed at the pythia.
The others laughed at his shocked reaction.
“Our pythia has a point,” Maddie agreed. “Cassie should be able to defend herself in case of trouble.”
“You never made me train Sybil when she was the pythia,” Erik objected.
“That’s because nobody was trying to kill Sibyl every time she went on a field mission,” Maddie countered. “Being pythia was always a risky occupation, but mortal danger wasn’t part of the job description until Cassie came along.”
“Lucky, lucky me,” the pythia murmured.
“I still don’t—”
Maddie cut him off. “Being in mortal danger is now part of her job description. You know what’s in your job description? As security coordinator for the pythia, you’re supposed to keep her safe. That includes teaching her how to keep herself safe, too.”
Erik held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “OK, I give.”
While the others were debating, Faye had slipped from the table and gone into the house. She now returned bearing an apple pie in her hands.
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