Guardian of the Stone

by Amity Grays

“But—” She sighed.

  His attention had already been diverted to the task at hand.

  Another quick search of the area found the man truly gone. How had he moved so quickly? Where had he gone? It could have been nothing but her overactive imagination. There was every possibility he was merely studying the electronic boards which hung above her head.

  Yes, that was probably it, and his flight had most likely arrived. The man was no more watching her than the two men working the vending machines over to her left. They too seemed somewhat distracted, not by her but by the crowds around them. They were fascinated with people, because people were fascinating. Hadn’t she just been thinking that herself?

  The hairs at the back of her neck stood on ends. She could feel them—actually feel them—the prickly little strands. But that wasn’t all she was feeling. She could also feel the eyes. They were everywhere, but nowhere to be seen.

  Everything’s fine…just fine.

  Nausea rose high in her middle.

  Nearing the end of the first corridor, they moved into the center of the exiting crowd.

  A tall man with long, silver hair pulled back in a ponytail, pushed along a loaded waste-barrel headed the opposite direction. Something about him seemed familiar as well as oddly out of place. A coincidence, certainly, as the man paid them no mind at all.

  Federic nodded toward the glass corridor overhead where people waited and watched for the new arrivals. “You watching?” he asked Dane.

  “Don’t worry,” Cole said. “We’ve got it well covered.”

  Edeline eyed the glass walkway. Though she didn’t see any sign of coverage, nothing appeared out of place. A quick glance to Dane showed him watching it nonetheless.

  Up ahead, standing only a couple feet outside the security gates, another priest anxiously watched their arrival. With him, a half-dozen men dressed identically to Cole’s two guards, stood carefully watching all those nearby.

  “Who is he?” Dane asked.

  “Father Richard,” answered Father Tom before stepping past security and straight into the man’s waiting arms.

  Father Richard. She’d heard the name. He was to be her replacement.

  “Oh, how I’ve missed you,” the priest said, stepping back to studying Father Tom. “We’ve grown old, my friend.”

  Father Tom chuckled. “Twenty-two years is a very long time.”

  “That it is. Elliot’s been simply beside himself. Have you seen him yet?”

  “In passing.”

  “Who’s Elliot,” Edeline whispered to her father.

  “You’ve met him. He’s Father Tom’s baby brother.” He looked over her shoulder as though expecting to see him appear. “He’s visited the parish a couple times through these years. We passed him a while back.”

  It came to her immediately.

  “I knew he looked familiar,” Edeline said, remembering the silver-haired man. It had been probably ten years since Elliot had last visited LA. Turning to search the terminal with her father, she asked the obvious question. “Why was he pushing a dumpster?”

  “It’s his job.”

  “He’s a janitor?”

  Federic laughed, bringing her into his arms and kissing her forehead. “He’s a knight, Edeline, as was the man sitting beside the kiosk reading the newspaper and the two gentlemen working the vending machines. So was the young man who passed and greeted Father Tom. And that man over there,” he said, pointing to a man sitting on one of the benches outside the security checkpoint, watching the crowds as he tied his shoes.

  “There were also several who passed us as travelers,” Dane added, still diligently watching their surroundings. “I counted no less than twelve.”

  “Twelve! You mean to tell me you both know these men?”

  “No,” Federic said, now rushing her past security, “but we recognize them.”

  “Recognize them? But how, if you’ve—”

  The men once guarding the priest now fell back to surround her. Her eyes swung to them in surprise. “What are they doing?”

  “Also their jobs,” Dane said, hastening her along as the now larger group made for the exit.

  “Wait! What about our bags?”

  “Taken care of,” Elliot said, suddenly standing beside her father. The gray-pinstriped overalls he’d been wearing were gone and in their place he wore jeans, a T-shirt and headpiece resembling all the others.

  He was a knight. Thinking back to the limited memories she had of the man, she wasn’t all that surprised. There had always been an air about him, a sense of righteousness, a feeling that he was destined for something more amazing than normality.

  Looking around the group, she realized they all carried that presence—one of nobility and fortitude. They were an intimidating group, the men who now surrounded her—so many stoic looking men moving together in a swarm of determination. They spoke very little, but held guard with a diligence which relayed neither fear nor uncertainty. They would be formidable against any threat which was out there.

  No wonder Dane and her father had recognized them. They easily stood out with no effort at all.

  The group stopped right in front of the exit.

  “We’ll wait here for the cars,” Elliot said, reaching past Edeline to pat his brother’s shoulder. “Thomas, my brother, I am glad you are here.”

  While the two men exchanged a brief greeting, Edeline turned to Dane. “Why the disguises? Why didn’t they simply come forward from the start?”

  Dane turned her to look behind them. “That’s why,” he said, pointing to where three men, all handcuffed, were being escorted down the passage by an odd assortment of men dressed as airport personnel.

  One face among the prisoners stood out in particular. It was the man who’d been sitting across from the child.

  “Are they…?”

  “Dogs? That would be my guess.”

  Her stomach turned an impressive round of flips. How had they known she’d be here? What had they done to get caught? Why, exactly, were they here?

  Catching her obvious distress, Dane leaned forward. “I’ll find out more,” he promised.

  “They’re here,” said Cole, turning back from the window near the exit and waving them forward.

  Still laughing at something his brother had said, Elliot looked up just as Cole headed for the doors. “Cole, have Andre check that tour bus.”

  Cole turned back to the window, lifting his phone just as the double-decker, red and green tour bus darted out from behind their long line of Suburbans.

  “Everyone, down,” Elliot screamed, right as Dane pushed Edeline to the ground and then fell to cover her like a shield.

  Federic hit the floor right beside her, reaching out and taking her hand right as the first round of bullets descended, shattering glass and sending countless shreds of destruction into the air.

  Screams echoed between walls as bystanders scattered and security guards shouted for the knights to drop their weapons. Orders which soon changed to encouragement as the next round of bullets flew into the room.

  “They’re stopping right outside the doors,” one of the knights near the entrance warned.

  All around the room, she could hear guns preparing.

  “Cover your heads,” Graham yelled, walking right past Edeline and Dane and directly toward the gunfire. Kneeling down beside one of the fallen guards, he grabbed his gun and took aim.

  “Federic,” Dane said, “wait until we start firing, then take Edeline and make a run for that kiosk.” He pointed.

  “Done,” Federic said, still holding tight to her hand.

  Elliot handed Dane a gun and together they moved to kneel beside the others.

  “Fire,” Elliot ordered, and shots rang from the room.

  Bolting to their feet, Edeline and Federic darted to the kiosk to slide behind its cover.

  Behind them shots were flying like pellets from a hailstorm. Screams and cries could be heard through the chaos, echoing her fears as she
peeked back around the stall to look for Father Tom.

  A sorrowful cry, born in the very depths of her soul, tore from her throat. The unthinkable lay directly in her view. Bodies, lying scattered across the room, still moved with the jolts of shrapnel which danced with the broken glass atop the foyer’s floor.

  Men, covered in blood, still knelt on their knees returning fire and dodging bullets.

  Refusing to search the dead, Edeline search the faces of the living, looking for those she knew—Elliot, Graham, Cole and…finally, there he was…Dane.

  But where were Father Tom and Father Richard?

  “Edeline, get back,” Federic said, pulling her back behind the metal stall.

  “Everybody back,” someone screamed from the lobby.

  Federic wrapped his arms around her and held on tight.

  A huge explosion roared from outside, spitting a fierce wind along with new pieces of debris in through the broken windows. The metal stall giving them cover groaned and lifted partially from its bolts, but thankfully never gave.

  “Dane!”

  Federic held her still when she would have ran without thought. Visions of the scene lying behind the stall flashed through her head. Holding tight to her father, she buried her face in his chest and prayed for a miracle.

  As the debris from the explosion settled around them, silence filled the once tumultuous air. Slowly the sound of movement emerged from the other side of the kiosk. She looked to her father, both uncertain and afraid.

  Shaking his head, he motioned for her to be still.

  Footsteps, heading their way, crunched across broken glass.

  Grabbing hold of a cloth which had fallen from the stall, Federic wrapped it around the palm of his hand and then took hold a sharp piece of glass.

  They waited.

  “Federic? Edeline?”

  “Father Tom!” Relief flooded through her so powerfully she shook.

  The priest rounded the corner as they made it to their feet. “Are you both all right?”

  “We are,” Federic said, wrapping his arms around his friend. “You’re a sight for worried eyes. Does this mean it’s over?”

  “It’s over. The explosion you heard was the tour bus. One of Elliot’s men from the caravan was able to escape and plant an explosive.”

  “Did any live?”

  “Of theirs, very few.”

  “And ours?”

  The priest looked toward Edeline, hesitating a painful moment. “We took a brutal hit. You should prepare yourselves for what you’ll see.”

  Sirens blared from every direction as their silver SUV merged with the traffic heading west. The men around her took up the same vigilance as they had walking her through the airport terminals—focused, determined. But Edeline simply sat quiet—troubled and once again numb to the threat which lingered all around. Nothing seemed real anymore. It felt more like a dream—a confusing, terrifying nightmare.

  “Why didn’t they question us?” her father asked, sitting in the front passenger seat beside Elliot as they flew toward the country and away from the gruesome scene.

  “We have friends in high places,” Elliot said, in way of explanation. Checking his rearview mirror, he then merged to follow the tan SUV currently serving as lead. “They actually knew there could be trouble, but for the sake of appearance, had to stand clear.”

  “Stand clear?” Edeline repeated, shocked out of her silence. “How could they stand by and simply do nothing? Innocent people were killed. If your friends knew it would happen, then why didn’t they stop it?”

  Compassionate blue eyes looked back at her through the rearview mirror. “No innocents died today, Edeline, only those who knew the risks and found them worthy.”

  Dane squeezed her hand. “Edeline, they’re not to blame…and neither are you,” he added, once again reading her far better than she’d imagined.

  “He’s right,” Elliot said. “Despite all appearance, this really has very little to do with you.”

  “This is my fault,” Graham said, shocking them all. Sitting at her left, diligently keeping guard; the man had, for the most part, remained notably silent.

  Suddenly angry, Dane looked past Edeline to Graham. “I saw you today. You fought like a man searching for a bullet. If this is a suicide mission, stay the hell away from Edeline.”

  “I would never let anything happen to Edeline. I’m simply trying to make a wrong I’ve done her right.” He took a deep breath, turning back toward the window. “I’m a bastard and a heathen, damned by the very men I handed the stone.”

  “This isn’t a new war, Graham,” Father Tom said from the seat behind them. “It’s been raging for centuries. You are merely one of a thousand pawns, neither necessary nor responsible for their ambitions or their deeds.”

  “I handed them the stone. I laid it right into their hands.”

  “Quit giving yourself so much credit,” Dane said. “If you hadn’t done it, they’d have found another.”

  “True enough,” said Elliot. “They can always find a weakness.”

  “Well, they certainly found mine.”

  “You were human,” Dane said. “Torture’s been around so long for one very good reason. It works. And I’d wager the Dogs know how to use it better than any. I wouldn’t have wanted to trade you places.”

  “You wouldn’t have cowered.”

  “No one knows what they’d do for sure in such a situation. One thing I do know, however, is that when we’ve needed you, when it’s really mattered, you’ve put it all on the line to do what was right. That’s not a coward.”

  Both Elliot and Federic chorused Dane’s view.

  Graham nodded halfheartedly. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be this round. They’re stronger here, fiercer and there’s a lot more of them. I won’t know them all. I couldn’t possibly.”

  “You’ll do your best,” Elliot said. “That’s all we ask.”

  “I’m no longer afraid of dying.”

  “No,” Dane said. “I know you’re not, and that’s what concerns me most. This is likely to become more a game of intellect than might. There will be no room for retribution or atonement.”

  “It was a bold attack they launched today,” Federic said, still diligently watching the roads. “If they’d take such a risk in a public place, what will they do to stop us at the caves?”

  “Anything,” Graham said. “They’ll do anything.”

  Glancing toward Elliot, Federic asked, “Can we handle them?”

  “We’re a huge force numbering in the thousands. We have wealth, power and courage in abundance, but it was luck that got us through today. Despite our best laid plans and even with surveillance, they still got through.”

  “Of course, we never considered they’d make such a brazen frontal attack,” Father Richard said, sitting in the back seat beside Father Tom.

  Elliot nodded. “In that, we were careless. We forgot how much they wanted this. It’s a mistake we won’t make twice.”

  “You’re forgetting our greatest asset, my brother,” Father Tom said.

  Through the rearview mirror, Elliot looked back toward the priest with lifted brow.

  “We have God,” said Father Richard. “It wasn’t luck, Elliot, which saw us through. It was the Lord’s grace.”

  Elliot smiled. “How foolish I feel.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  THE TWO-HOUR DRIVE FROM PARIS to the northern shores of France was in no way relaxing, but at least the scenery offered a visual escape from the daunting reality that placed them there. An enchanting decoupage of woodlands and pasture, cities and villages, created a captivating distraction. It was an incredible world where history was held within the palm of a modern civilization.

  Once again, Edeline wondered what it would have been like all those years ago. She mourned it, and she mourned for those whom she would have loved who were now buried beneath its soil.

  Taking her hand in his, Dane seemed to sense her sadness.
r />   There was a comfort in his touch which always brought her peace. She smiled. “It’s truly beautiful here. Does any of it look the same?”

  Following her gaze back out the window, he shrugged his shoulders. “Pieces, here and there, resemble things I’ve seen. But this was never a path I traveled. Most of the time, we stayed well hidden within the forests, studying the inhabitants and their lives from afar.”

  “Until I came along,” she reminded.

  “Yes, until you came along,” he acknowledged with a grin. “You took me directly into their midst. I may have brought you home to my world, but you first introduced me to yours. The memories are my favorite, second only to one.” The look in his eyes told her clearly she was that one.

  Despite the unease of a life in chaos, for that moment she felt nothing but happiness.

  “Tell me we’ll be all right, Dane. Tell me we’ll have the chance to build more memories together. Ones we can both remember and treasure. Tell me, and I’ll believe you.”

  He held her hopeful stare for several long seconds. “You know I can’t promise you, but I do believe it’s true.” Lifting his hand, he caressed her cheek. “Our fate doesn’t lie in the hands of the men who pursue us. Our fate lies in the hands of those who stand in their way. The shield has the last say in any battle, and there is no stronger shield than the one which has us covered.”

  “He’s right,” Graham said. “The knights have the advantage of spirit. Those who serve the Dark Army are only haunted by memories of such. Though some still hold souls as dark as the world they strive for, most have simply succumbed to the madness which holds their reins. Their souls have been imprisoned by the darkness, given no hope and no choice but to obey.”

  Graham nodded toward the front seats. “That’s not true of the Knights Templar. They are what they are because of what they believe. They give everything and ask for nothing. They simply give and give without regret. Their souls are not bartered, but their hearts are pledged. They believe that what they fight for is bigger than themselves.”

  “And they will succeed,” Dane added, “because for them, there really is no other option.”

  “This is it,” Elliot said, pulling the SUV to a stop in front of a heavily guarded gate.