Ancient Origins: Books 4 - 6 (Ancient Origins Boxset Book 2)

by Robert Storey

  ‘I don’t want to be the buzzkill here,’ Jason said. He gave Sarah a nervous look ‘But how do we know you’re you?’

  ‘What?’ Trish said, aggrieved. ‘Of course it’s Sarah. Who else could it be?’

  ‘I saw you,’ he said to Sarah. ‘I saw you kill and dismember people with your bare hands. The Pharos pumped you full of that black goop, we all saw it. And Avery said he’d been feeding it to you for days, and that you were changing into ...’ – he held Sarah’s gaze – ‘into one … into one of them.’

  Sarah stared at Jason, not knowing what to say.

  ‘No, Jas.’ Trish shook her head. ‘When that Nicola Dowling changed, I saw it. I saw her face, just before she became the Pharos, her face became Sarah’s. It was her you saw killing all those people. It was always her.’

  Sarah recalled Dowling’s face briefly turning into hers just before the Pharos had burst forth.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Jason said.

  Trish nodded. ‘Positive. Cross my heart, and besides, Sarah just killed one and saved us from loads more, isn’t that proof enough for you?’

  Jason gave a nod as he convinced himself. ‘I suppose.’

  Ruben stood up, his eyes still fixed on Sarah’s, and then he said, ‘I can see a light up ahead.’ He pointed behind them.

  Sarah turned and saw a bright light glinting like a star, the source of the faint glow that penetrated the dark around them.

  Ruben moved towards it and Sarah donned his tunic, got to her feet and followed, but as she did so, she couldn’t help but wonder if he thought she was still possessed, like Jason had. And, perhaps more worryingly, in some ways, she still questioned it herself, as she could feel something remained, she just didn’t know what.

  ‘Sarah, wait!’ Trish said, rushing to keep up, with Jason close behind, but Sarah didn’t hear them as she caught up to Ruben.

  ‘I thought you said sorcery was an abomination.’ Sarah tightened the tunic’s belt around her waist. ‘I know what you did back there. You went against your religious teachings. Why?’

  Ruben didn’t look at her. ‘You know why.’

  ‘I don’t, that’s why I’m asking.’

  ‘Because it was the right thing to do,’ he said, growing angry. ‘Satisfied?’

  Sarah understood his unease. His religion gave him strict instruction as to what was good and what was bad, and what he should and shouldn’t do. The only problem was, sometimes that meant doing the wrong thing to preserve the faith. And, as sad as it was to accept, such self-preservation often led to the very thing religion purported to be against: fear, hatred, murder, and even war. The problem was, if religions never allowed their followers to think for themselves, to trust their own instincts, to learn from their own mistakes what was right and wrong, what was good for them and what was not, then it would continue to repeat its mistakes for evermore. Sarah considered the scabbarded sword on Ruben’s back with deep sadness, as they emerged from the dark and into a glorious chamber full of shadows interspersed with beams of multicoloured light.

  At the chamber’s centre, smooth rock formations surrounded a huge crater over which ran a single Anakim bridge. The sound of rushing water reverberated around the natural arena and twinkling lights from above reflected off the rocky layers beneath and the crystalline structures interspersed within. And it was these crystals that created the rays of light, their prism-like facets refracting the white radiance into an array of brilliant rainbows.

  ‘What is it?’ Jason said, coming to stand by their side.

  ‘It’s the universe,’ Trish said, staring up at the awesome sight.

  Sarah gazed up at the multitude of galactic lights that populated the chamber’s immense ceiling. Clusters of newborn stars, supernovas, and thousands, millions, billions of galaxies shone bright within the infinity of celestial space. It was like standing at the edge of reality itself as this was no illusion or sleight of hand, no, this was something else entirely. How the Anakim had done it, Sarah couldn’t guess, but she knew this was the real deal – a glimpse into eternity – or perhaps a better description would be a glimpse from eternity, a God’s-eye view.

  As Sarah gazed into this heavenly vault, she felt something prickle her senses. ‘They’re watching,’ she said, her brow furrowing. ‘They’re watching us.’

  Ruben tore his eyes from the vision to look at her and frowned. ‘Who’s watching?’

  Sarah gave a shake of her head. She didn’t know, but she knew something was up there – watching – waiting – listening. It was then that she understood something had happened to her in the storm, more than a miraculous bodily renewal, something far deeper, a connection to the divine beyond anything she could explain with words. She blinked and realised everything around her was dazzlingly bright and crystal clear. Every sight, sound and smell. Every touch, every taste, set her mind alight with joy and wonder. But whereas before she’d seen with her eyes, she now saw with her entire body. She could see an aura around Ruben. She could also see one around Trish, and yet another encircling Jason – a myriad of swirling colours and mesmerising light. Sarah embraced the sensations with childlike awe, then glimpsed more movement and dragged her gaze to the centre of the bridge, where a figure dressed in black walked next to another man clothed in lustrous red armour.

  ‘Avery,’ she said, realising the cardinal hadn’t seen them, as he walked in the opposite direction over the bridge and the crater beneath.

  Ruben let out a growl. ‘And Lanter.’

  He reached for his sword, but Sarah grasped his arm, preventing him from drawing the blade. ‘I know what was in the scroll,’ she said, recalling what Avery had told her. ‘I know what they seek.’

  Ruben turned to look at her, his expression fearful.

  ‘Or rather,’ she said, holding his gaze, ‘whom they seek.’

  ‘And you were the one who revealed the clue to his location,’ Ruben said, his tone accusatory.

  ‘I don’t think it was me,’ Sarah said. ‘The prophecy, I mean. I don’t think I made it.’

  ‘The words came from your mouth,’ Ruben said. ‘I was there in the Vatican when you said them.’

  ‘I think it was the giant. It must have been. Think about it. How could I know something like that? It had to come from somewhere.’

  ‘What are you both talking about?’ Jason said, over the noise of the unseen water washing up from below. ‘What’s this prophecy? Who are you talking about?’

  Sarah looked at Jason and Trish, and then back to Ruben again. ‘Avery told me, they want the surface to burn – his Committee. I think they believe it creates deep magic. He said it’s what Hitler and the Nazis were doing. They murdered millions at specific times and places to create some kind of power.’

  ‘I’ve heard that somewhere, too,’ Trish said. ‘And it backfired on them, culminating in the nuclear bombs.’

  Sarah glanced at her friend. ‘I don’t think it’s a story, not any more. This Committee think they’ll become gods and manifest powers, but they’re wrong, like the Nazis were wrong before them and many more before them. When the giant touched me, it let me see into its mind. I couldn’t recall it until now, but they’re coming. They’re coming here – now – for us.’

  Ruben glanced back up at Avery and Lanter, as they continued to move away from them. ‘Who? Who are coming?’

  ‘The Committee’s masters. Masters they don’t even know they have.’

  ‘Who, Sarah?’ Trish said. ‘Tell us.’

  Sarah looked at Ruben and then at Trish and Jason. ‘The Nephilim. I saw them in my vision. I think the Nephilim wiped out the Anakim and now they’re coming back to finish the job.’

  ‘Why?’ Ruben said.

  ‘I don’t know why. Only that they are. Richard Goodwin knew of them, too, or suspected they existed, and I think I know why. He came into contact with the Pharos in Sanctuary, just like I did. I think the Pharos are their emissaries on Earth, or they use them to do their bidding. It’s like Avery said
about his Committee, they divide us through country, race and religion, but what the Committee don’t realise is, the Nephilim are using and dividing them from humanity. To make them believe one small sect, one belief, one purpose, is better than all the rest. To make them believe killing and war is the answer to maintaining civilisation and a way of life which wounds our planet and serves the tiniest few, when the only solution is just as Avery said – within us.’

  ‘How?’ Trish touched Sarah’s arm. ‘Sarah, this is crazy talk.’

  ‘I don’t know how, but it’s so clear to me. I think the Committee knows what they’re doing is wrong, but deep down they have the greatest fear of all. They think they’re at the top of the pyramid, but really, when it comes to the evolution of the soul, many of them are near the very bottom. And when the Nephilim return the only ones left to stand against them will be the Committee themselves, and they will fail, as the Anakim did before them, as there will be no one left to help them. I’ve seen it. I wish, I wish you could have seen – felt – what I have. We have to find this Committee, make them see the truth, make them see what they think is right will turn out to be the end of us, the end of us all.’

  ‘You want me to work with Satanists?’ Ruben looked into her eyes, his expression dark. ‘What did Avery say? Tell me everything.’

  ‘He said the stars are aligned. He said the End of Days is at hand. All the signs point to it. The Second Coming is upon us.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Jason said. ‘The Second Coming is a myth. Some even say Jesus wasn’t real.’

  ‘And to them, he never will be,’ Ruben said. ‘For only they who believeth, receiveth.’

  ‘Religion!’ Jason gave a derisive snort. ‘There should be a law against it.’

  Ruben glowered at him. ‘Matthew, chapter twenty-four, verse twenty-nine through thirty-one. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty ...”’

  ‘“And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and great voice,”’ Trish said, taking over, ‘“and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.”’ Trish clutched her hands to her chest as if in prayer. ‘The sun and the moon were both darkened by the dust cloud from AG5, and stars did fall from heaven.’

  ‘Only two,’ Jason said. ‘And for all we know, the second is a lie, along with all the other asteroids. Sarah, you have to open your eyes. You’re believing everything Avery’s told you.’ He glared at Ruben. ‘What they’ve all told you.’

  ‘I can see, Jas,’ Sarah said. ‘More than I’ve ever been able to before. And it’s not just what Avery said, I’ve had visions of more asteroids and Konstantin showed me the signs in the stars. I see what it means, now. I see what it all means. Virgo was giving birth to a star. Can’t you see what that signifies? Armageddon has arrived and the Son of Man has returned and we need to protect him.’

  Jason shook his head in disbelief, but Trish looked scared.

  ‘You’re not believing this, are you?’ Jason said.

  ‘After what we’ve just been through,’ – Trish held Sarah’s gaze – ‘I think ... I think we should hear her out.’

  Sarah gave her friend a smile of thanks and then looked at Jason again. ‘Believe what you will. Just know, that’s what the Committee believe. They think what they’re doing is right. They’re going to kill billions,’ – she glanced at Ruben – ‘and then they want to corrupt Christ and turn him into the Antichrist, and if they fail—’

  Ruben shrugged off her hand in revulsion.

  ‘—and if they fail, they’ll torture and kill him.’

  ‘Destroying our saviour,’ Trish said.

  Sarah nodded. ‘And condemning themselves and humanity to the whims of their hidden masters.’

  ‘A Satanist would never relinquish their power,’ Ruben said. ‘They’d rather die. They’d rather the entire world died than give up what they have.’ Ruben drew his sword, his face a mask of fury. ‘And I will never – EVER – work with them.’ The bare-chested Templar stalked away, then broke into a run and raced toward the bridge.

  ‘Ruben, wait!’ Sarah said, but it was too late, the catholic knight was beyond reasoning.

  ‘Saz,’ Trish said, ‘what do we do?’

  Sarah turned to look at her friend and then her eyes strayed behind her to the darkness beyond and a shimmering green-blue light, which morphed into the form of a man. ‘There’s only one thing we can do.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ Jason said.

  Sarah looked at him. ‘Run.’

  Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Seven

  Sarah, Trish and Jason fled from the Pharos that approached from behind and caught up to Ruben on the bridge, which spanned the vast underground crater. Far below, a colossal whirlpool swirled in a seething torrent, while above the universe continued to cast its heavenly light on the cavern beneath.

  ‘Avery!’ Ruben shouted over the rushing water, his mad dash slowed to a purposeful stride. The bare-chested Templar knight raised his sword aloft. ‘AVERY CANTRELL!!’

  The Irish cardinal and Major Lanter slowed to a stop and looked back, their expressions turning to shock when they saw Sarah was alive and well, clothed in Ruben’s white tunic.

  Ruben continued walking towards them and pointed his longsword at Avery. ‘If you think I’ll let you leave here alive, you’re mistaken!’

  Major Lanter closed his visor and drew his own sword, but Avery laid his hand on his protector’s shoulder to stay his hand.

  ‘Sarah has told you, then: our plans for your saviour. I can see it in your eyes – the rage.’

  Ruben clenched his jaw and raised his sword, but Sarah rushed forward and hauled him back. ‘Ruben, no! Look!’

  Avery had stepped aside and Alexander Konstantin appeared as if from nowhere to move past him across the bridge.

  Sarah glanced behind to see the shimmering light of the other Pharos blocking their only means of escape.

  Ruben stopped and Trish said, ‘What do we do?’

  Jason looked as scared as Trish sounded and Sarah was out of ideas.

  ‘Nothing to say, Ruben?’ Avery said, and held up the Anakim pendant which hung around his neck. ‘I have the power and favour of the gods, you cannot stop me. No man can.’ The Irish cardinal pointed to the end of the bridge and a stone platform Sarah recognised as an Anakim transportation device. ‘And I’m afraid I can’t stick around to watch you all die. I have a Church to run and someone to find.’ Avery leered at them with sickening contempt and then turned away, and Lanter followed, leaving Sarah, Ruben, Trish and Jason to their fates.

  ‘Get behind me,’ Ruben said to Sarah, as the being that possessed Konstantin approached.

  Sarah remained by his side. ‘There’s no point, there’s another one behind us.’

  ‘If anyone’s got a bright idea,’ Jason said, as the other Pharos closed in from the opposite direction. ‘Now’s the time to say.’ He waited for a moment. ‘Anyone?’

  Trish let out a whimper of fear and Ruben tensed for action. Sarah noticed that Konstantin’s aura was not a single form, but a swirling darkness within a thin layer of light. ‘He’s still in there,’ she said.

  ‘What?’ Ruben said.

  Sarah looked down at her hand and saw her own aura surrounded by another. ‘And it’s still in me.’ Sarah had a sudden thought and she spun round, grasped Trish and forced her to the edge of the bridge.

  ‘Sarah,’ Trish said, ‘what are you doing?!’

  ‘Do you trust me?’

  Trish glanced down at the roaring vortex of water far below her. ‘What?’

  ‘Do you trust me?!’

  ‘Yes?’ Trish sa
id, her expression terrified.

  Sarah pushed Trish off the bridge, her shocked face disappearing from view as she plummeted into the whirlpool below.

  Her scream ended as she hit the water and Jason looked over the edge in despair. ‘Sarah, what the fu—’

  Sarah shoved Jason in the back, and with a yell, he followed Trish over the edge.

  Ruben turned his sword on her and Sarah glanced at Konstantin, who was almost upon them, and then into the distance, as Avery activated the Anakim transporter. ‘Ruben what are you doing?!’

  ‘You’re not her! Sarah would never side with Satanists, any more than she would kill her friends.’

  ‘I’m not siding with Avery and I haven’t killed my friends.’ She gazed down at the whirlpool, where there was no sign of Trish and Jason. ‘Have I?’ She looked down at her hands in shock.

  ‘You just admitted it was still in you!’ Ruben backed away from her, one eye on Konstantin and the other on the Pharos. ‘Oh, my God, Sarah, you’re still possessed!’

  ‘No, you’re wrong,’ Sarah shook her head in confusion. ‘We need to enter the water. I know it. Trust me!’

  Ruben glared at her. ‘NEVER!’

  At the end of the bridge, the light from the transporter grew brighter.

  Sarah knew Avery was about to escape, while at the same time Konstantin bore down on Ruben. With no time to think, she stepped forward as Konstantin drew level with her, grasped him round the neck and placed her other hand on his forehead.

  A flash of light made Sarah’s head jolt back and strange images flashed before her eyes.

  ‘Sarah,’ Ruben said. ‘What are you doing?!’

  Konstantin let out a snarl of fury and seized her wrists in an iron grip.

  ‘Stop Avery!’ Sarah said, her eyelids fluttering as images from Konstantin’s life bombarded her mind.

  Ruben looked at Sarah and then at Avery, his purpose conflicted.

  ‘GO!’ Sarah said, sensing his confusion. ‘I don’t know how long I can hold him!’