Wolves of the Tesseract Collection

by Christopher D Schmitz

  As he walked, Zabe felt certain that his father would’ve made these same difficult decisions if faced with them. Still, uncertainty riddled his subconscious. Zabe only knew that doing nothing would lead to a quick demise of the universe.

  He sighed with the weight of the thirty-three worlds on his shoulders as he climbed the tower stairs to meet his men. The mission must go forward, but there was no way to adequately train and prepare for his tenure in Zahaben’s footsteps—nothing could train him for the trials of battling these reptilian zealots, and that fact drug his spirits low. How could he ask his peers to join him in such an impossible task against such steep odds?

  Men and women of the Royal Military and of the Guardian Corps lined the hallway. Each person stood at attention, outfitted and ready to go. The resolve on their faces reminded him of their dedication and their grit.

  His dour mood lifted when he looked at them, friends and family, each. With every step, Zabe knew that he'd made the right move. Sh'logath had to be stopped and every force that tried to awaken the agod had to be destroyed for the sake of all reality. That was his calling; that was his duty.

  Zabe stopped halfway down the hallway. Claire stood at the ready, outfitted in Zurrah’s armor.

  “How do I look?” she asked coyly.

  He motioned for her to turn around. She complied and Zabe clasped the darquematter pendant behind her back. “Better, now.”

  She turned and gave him a kiss in front of everyone—something Zabe had always been reluctant to do. He returned it and then they walked towards the mirrors together. Their team followed. They stared at the mirror for a moment and prayed for success knowing they would need all the help that they could get.

  Chapter 11

  Claire smeared sunblock on her face and tied her hair back so that it wouldn’t drag in her face during her mission. She hugged her best friend. “Be safe,” she told Jackie who wore a heavy parka by contrast.

  Zabe handed her a plain looking cloak to cover her armor with. They expected they would run into locals.

  “You too… make sure this wedding is still happening.”

  Claire winked. “I will—you make sure you’ve still got a plus one.”

  Jackie smirked and glanced over to Harken and Wulftone. Her ire with the boys had finally died down to minimal levels. Both looked up and caught her looking at them and offered a smile in response. “I don’t think that will be a problem… can I have a plus two?”

  Claire laughed and joined Zabe’s side. “Don’t press your luck—and I mean it. Be careful!” They turned and leapt through the glass which seemed to melt like liquid silver as they passed through and beyond. Their team followed them.

  A moment of silence followed their departure. Wulftone stepped into the middle of the room and reset the portal indicators which would get them to their secret location in Antarctica.

  “Listen up,” he spoke at the top of his lungs as he worked. “We’re going in hot and we’re going in big. Zabe and the princess have a long way to travel from their drop site to the darqueportal. We’re going to come out only a few hundred meters away from our target.”

  Wulftone looked over the hallway filled with prepped and ready troops that would soon charge through the breach and into the snowy unknown. They hoped their large show of force would distract from Zabe’s smaller team who would need as much stealth as they could.

  “The more eyes that fall on us means less of them searching for our friends. Are you all ready to do this?”

  Shouts arose through the hallway.

  Wulftone’s Guardian Corps armor stretched at the joints as his body bulged and shifted into its lycan form. He snarled, “Then follow me!”

  The werewolf strode confidently to the glass and then put his hand against the mirror to push through. Something stopped him. He pushed harder, but nothing moved.

  A ripple of anxiety washed through the troops as the anticlimax took root. Wulftone pushed again. Nothing.

  Harken stepped close and pushed against the side of the mirror’s frame. It slid across the floor a few centimeters. He sidestepped and then pushed the glass for the same effect: they could not move it.

  “Something is blocking us from the other side,” he realized.

  Wulftone muttered a string of curses at the stroke of luck. “You keep trying!” he shouted at Harken while he turned and began sprinting away.

  Harken pulled his hand back from the glass and shook the frosty moisture away. “It’s so cold,” he shouted back to his comrade.

  “I’m going for help,” Wulftone shouted back right before he sprinted around the corner and out of sight.

  ***

  Shandra didn’t know if it had been seconds or weeks since being thrown into the chamber. She recalled having many conversations with Zurrah, and yet it still felt like only moments had passed since her incarceration. Those moments also felt like an eternity.

  They leaned against the doorway and could occasionally hear the muffled sounds of voices in the room beyond. Something in the tone of those subdued voices reinforced in Shandra’s mind that her time had nearly drawn to a close—they would come for her and soon.

  “What do you think, Zurrah? Do you want to get out of here?”

  The youth vigorously shook his head.

  “I have a plan.”

  ***

  Claire and Zabe burst through a copse of trees as if emerging from an underwater swim. They rushed through the greenery and let the rest of their fifteen man team catch up. A hundred meters beyond their hiding location people buzzed enthusiastically and unaware.

  The crowd beyond were as varied in attire as was their skin. People of many stripes meandered around the foot of the ancient structures, pausing to snap photos or purchase trinkets from a vendor.

  “Tourists,” Claire stated and then pulled her head back into the dense vegetation that hid them.

  Yardi and Spireth, the two soldiers accompanying Claire, Zabe, and Jenner to complete a five-man team, argued under their breath. A geometric pyramid towered in the distance above the canopy.

  “What is it?” Zabe demanded.

  “Portals are supposed to take us to places of greatness,” Spireth whispered. “Why are we in the woods instead of atop the pyramid?”

  Claire stepped forward. Years of study with her archeologist father had taught her the answer. “Portals from the Tesseract are places of power and energy; because we don’t always understand that energy, indigenous people will often ascribe supernatural, mythological, or theological reasons to explain it and build a legend to suit.”

  She pointed to the looming structure. “That’s the Pyramid of the Sun. The oldest it could have been established is one hundred B.C.E. But the name of the Aztec city, Teotihuacan, translates as ‘Birthplace of the Gods,’ and gives us an idea of the mythology surrounding the area. I think the ancient people perhaps met planeswalkers—maybe even saw them emerge—and jumped to conclusions about the area and then later built temples to uphold their mythos.”

  Claire’s allies took her explanation at face value. It had a certain bit of logic. She decided not to share that the Teotihuacans practiced human sacrifice and worship a deity called “The Flayed God,” amongst others.

  “We’re about forty klicks from Mexico City,” she said, pointing to a wide street barely visible through the foliage. “That’s the ‘Avenue of the Dead.’ We should be able to follow it and get to a parking lot; tour buses, taxis, and personal cars will be parked down that way.”

  Zabe held the Stone Glaive in one hand. It had been wrapped in burlap to look like a simple package as they walked among the public eye. “You all have the coordinates of the island. Make all speed to the site and be careful. Try to remain as inconspicuous as possible for as long as you are able.” The troops received their orders and nodded.

  “Then, good luck,” Zabe said.

  Claire pulled up her hood and led the way through the leaves. Zabe
followed closely while Jenner, Yardi, and Spireth followed a little ways behind. She pointed at a tourist walking away from the parking area and towards the Temple of the Moon, the furthest of the three superstructures.

  The other two five-man teams each broke through on their own and went different directions.

  With an old cell phone in hand, she walked up and greeted him. "Excuse me? Can you snap a quick photo of my fiancé and me in front of the pyramid, please?"

  He agreed and took her cellphone. As Claire explained the type of shot she hoped for, Jenner slinked up behind the photographer and unclipped the key and lock fob from his rear belt loop in one fluid motion and then walked away.

  As the would-be helper verbally directed them to step further and further back to get the perfect angle, he eyed the mobile device with a well-trained eye. Once he'd positioned Zabe and Claire a reasonable distance away he broke into a sprint opposite them and through a crowd of others and beyond.

  Claire laughed as the man ran closer to the pyramids to hide. “He’s probably heading that way with plans of doubling back and then selling or cloning the phone later. I sure feel less bad about stealing his car, now,” she said.

  Jenner approached them, spinning the keys on his index finger. He tossed them to Claire who knew best in their party how to drive Earth vehicles.

  In the parking lot, they pressed the alarm button on the key fob until a vehicle began honking. The team found a dirty, yellow taxi cab that smelled like old queso and piled in. It was not glamorous but at least it would get them to the city as quickly as possible.

  Claire turned the key and the vehicle roared to life. The radio had been turned up loud to cover over the fact of the muffler’s dire need for repairs.

  Zabe reached to turn it off but Claire stopped him. She cocked her head and listened to the broadcast, decoding foreign words she hadn’t used in years.

  "They are talking about a kidnapped nun. There's been a huge manhunt looking for her… something about a group of men who took her, religious zealots they called them. Apparently, they burned down a convent and spray painted seven-pointed stars on everything nearby." She listened for another few moments. "I guess it's some kind of cult that's taken over a huge segment of the local drug trade—they even forced out a majority of the cartel with their brutality, and that's saying something.”

  “I didn’t think any of the Heptobscurantum could’ve survived Nebraska… it must be a new crop of them. Sounds like they’ve gotten involved in the drug trade,” Zabe scowled. “Let’s just hope they don’t spot us.”

  Claire agreed and threw the vehicle into gear.

  Ten minutes later their yellow cab roared down the road and the silhouettes of the Teotihuacan pyramids faded from the skyline. Zabe sat in the front seat with his massive sword balanced between his knees. Their three accomplices managed to squeeze into the backseat; comfort had not been their primary concern.

  Zabe reached up and readjusted the rearview mirror so that he could use it. He narrowed his eyes.

  “What is it?” Claire asked.

  Zabe pointed to an upcoming exit off the highway. “Signal like you’re going to go there.”

  She used her blinker and then got into a turn lane but pulled out the last second and didn’t take the ramp. “Problems?”

  “That dark van behind us,” he said. “They’ve been following us since leaving Teotihuacan.”

  ***

  Wulftone ran back towards the mirror room with Tay-lore hot on his heels. They both carried large pieces of equipment. The android carried an immense laser emitter while Wulftone carried a tripod slung across his shoulders and a huge battery in each paw.

  As Tay-lore analyzed the mirror while Harken tried to pass through, Wulftone assembled the equipment and connected the batteries to the device. “Your assumptions were correct. There is a physical object blocking entry through the gate. I deduce it is an ice mass of some sort.”

  Wulftone clipped the last few leads to the laser’s circuitry. “We’re set up and ready to go.”

  Anyone near the Earth mirror took a few steps back as the lycan threw the switch. A brilliant vermillion beam cut the air and terminated at the mirror. It shed heat in every direction and the beam seemed to pass through the mirror; it didn’t reflect back as they would’ve otherwise suspected. None had been certain they could send pure energy through the portals at all, but their luck hadn’t been all bad.

  The heat rose and those closest to the circle of mirrors wiped away beading sweat from their hairlines before finally shedding their coats. Tay-lore began swiveling the business end of the beam emitter to widen an entry location.

  “This may take some time,” the android noted as the soldiers watched impatiently.

  Harken grimaced, “Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and wait.”

  ***

  Caivev stood on the precipice of the entry to her pyramid and observed the hive of activity as the excavation around the Hidden Temple had grown and expanded giving the dig-site a moat-like feel around her fortress. She mused that the stepped tiers of the prehistoric building might have given the ancient Aztecs their ideas for building designs all across Central America, and likely inspired the Mayans before even that.

  The trenches below crawled with vyrm, mostly members of the Black, but she knew a few Tarkhūn had worked their way into their number. Some had been slaves or prisoners of wars and race riots—but these were mainly all believers in the cause or else dissidents not quite ready for Basilisk’s One Vyrm union.

  In an act of fealty, the new vyrm tribal leaders had each sent one hundred of their finest fighters. Her lonely jungle hideout had been nearly overrun by the influx of dimensional foreigners.

  Additionally, Basilisk had arranged to send her the last of the Black who languished in his dungeons—the worst of the offenders in the race wars—and had them sent as a diversion to slow down the enemy in the Prime. The tarkhūn leader knew far too much about her inner workings to make her comfortable, but she’d assumed an info leak ever since Jarkara the Shade joined her cadre at Basilisk’s insistence. She still got the better end of the deal and readily accepted his gift that stalled Claire and Zabe at the starting line.

  Nearby, oily smoke from peat fires cooked all manner of earth meats which vyrm hunters had discovered in the jungles. The pungent odors did little to dissuade Caivev. She’d spent enough time shoulder to shoulder with the dregs of humanity and vyrm alike that she’d nearly burned out her olfactory senses.

  Caivev instinctually knew it was time. She turned and walked down the corridor of her Hidden Temple while sidestepping vyrm troops as she paced the lengths of the ancient facility. Everywhere she went Caivev had to wave away salutes or nod to bowing servants and scuts.

  Arriving at the main antechamber she liked to think of as her “war room,” Caivev called for Skrom. The massive tarkhūn proved always ready to do her bidding.

  “It’s time, boss?”

  Caivev nodded. “Very nearly. Call Walther and have him prepare.”

  Skrom picked up a cell phone that looked minuscule compared to his huge hands and punched in the digits.

  A pair of yellow eyes watching from the shadows finally emerged into the light of the narthex. The finely dressed, eleven-fingered man and his dog bowed genteelly. Those glowing, golden orbs fixed on the leader. “A favor before we go, Caivev?” Akko Soggathoth beckoned with a waggling, bony finger.

  She followed and they descended further into the belly of the temple until arriving at the locked door to Koth. Caivev shot him an apprehensive look.

  “I’ve had a premonition—of a sort. Would you please unlock the door for me?”

  Caivev eyed him suspiciously for a moment and wondered what he was up to. She locked her wrist and performed the hand motions.

  With his intense, yellow eyes he watched Caivev cut her arm and use the pooling blood like a painter’s palate. She painted the arcane sigil and the door unlocked. Caivev
pulled it open ever so slightly.

  “Excellent,” Akko Soggathoth said. He turned and began climbing the stairs back towards the war room.

  “That’s it?”

  The avatar shook his head. “Yes. Something of a safety measure is all.”

  As soon as they’d crested the steps to the narthex her war room flew into a flurry of chaos. Skrom had Shandra subdued and wrestled to the ground, but the youngest son of Zahaben had broken free. Three reptilian soldiers lay dead within the timeless chamber.

  “Run!” Shandra screamed before Skrom coldcocked her, bouncing her skull off the stone floor with a sickening thud.

  Zurrah punched his way free from a trio of Black and spun a roundhouse kick that leveled the fourth would-be subduer. He ducked the next and sprinted away until he stood face to face with Caivev. His face suddenly lit up with hope.

  “You! The Guardian Corps have arrived—my father has finally found us!”

  A split second passed and Zurrah suddenly understood the guilty look in Caivev’s eyes. “You’re not with them anymore—you’re a traitor?”

  Caivev’s heart sank at the accusation, however true it might have been. Her conscience ached as the last member of the Prime who might think her a source of hope understood that she’d betrayed her people. In fact, she’d given Nitthogr the very information that led to Zurrah’s capture and the destruction of the old outpost.

  Zurrah stood tall as Caivev pulled her blaster on him and cranked the dial. He spat his accusing question. “How long have you been betraying my father?”

  “Long enough. Oh, and by the way, your father’s dead!”

  She shot the whelp in the chest just as his eyes widened in despair. Blue energy crackled and wreathed his body; Zurrah crumpled into an unconscious heap.

  Akko Soggathoth nearly giggled at the turnabout. He pointed at the nearby vyrm who crawled to his feet, rubbing his face where the teen’s foot had dented his face. “You. What is your name?”