by David Wood
“You sound like that Grizzly Grant guy on television. The Atlanteans had flying chariots, Moses could zap people with his staff, and Elvis is still alive.” He could have gone on. He’d spent years listening to Bones prattle on about it.
“What I would give to get my hands on the staff of Moses. I’ve known of the existence of ancient world powers for quite some time. And I’m not alone. There are people all over the world who want to get their hands on such things.”
“Like the Ahnenerbe?” Maddock asked.
Founded by Heinrich Himmler, the Ahnenerbe was a Nazi think tank which had sponsored expeditions all over the world in search of the very sorts of artifacts Echard described.
“That’s one of them, although they aren’t really a major player anymore. If they ever manage to bring you-know-who back, things might change. None of the other Nazis had his charisma.”
The average person would have been surprised at the insinuation that the Ahnenerbe was still hanging on, operating in the shadows, but not Maddock. He’d seen a few things in his time and knew that as long as an ideology survived, there would be adherents to its cause. And some of them managed to stick around long past their expiration date.
“I first heard about the amulet from a local storyteller. Once I dug into it, I became convinced that Lusca was simply another name for Leviathan, the great beast of the sea. The more I researched it, the more convinced I became that I was correct. I discovered that the ancients had possessed an amulet that would control Leviathan, or the Lusca if you prefer. According to an obscure legend, a Greek warrior seduced Lusca’s master and stole the amulet. Rather than claiming the power he’d rightfully gained, he tried to hide the amulet away. His plan had been to take it to Santorini and destroy it. But his ship sank and the amulet was lost. That is, until you stumbled across it.”
Maddock hid his smile. It seemed Echard didn’t know about the ring.
“What about the torture chamber?” he grunted, still feigning serious injury.
“It started out as an attempt to deal with the Finfolk. Thinking they were merely a local cult, the church sent an inquisitor, a monk named Titus, to root them out. He began by questioning the locals. Questioning led to torture which eventually led to him capturing one of the Finfolk. It was from her that Titus learned about the great beast and the amulet that could control it.”
“Is the Lusca a creature of the Finfolk?”
Echard shook his head. “The Lusca is no one’s creature, but it will bend to the will of the one who holds the amulet.” He reached inside his shirt and took out the souvenir amulet Maddock had purchased from the peddler at Boiling Hole. “As I understand it, the Lusca was the guardian of this place. It vanished long ago, trapped beneath Andros as it turns out. The Finfolk covet the amulet as much as anyone. If they find me before I find the Lusca, things could get ugly.”
“Did you kill Alexei?” Maddock asked.
“I had to. All the work I’d done and some English teacher from Tampa is suddenly on the same path? Hell, he was ahead of me but didn’t know it. His research included excerpts from Father Jerome’s journal. That was the final piece I needed. Well, that and the amulet which you so kindly delivered into my hands.”
“Was Father Jerome in on it?” Maddock was growing impatient. Echard’s focus never lapsed, his aim remained steady.
“He was horrified when he heard the stories. He had his doubts about the amulet, but he believed in Leviathan. He also thought the Finfolk were demons, and that the place they lived was the passageway to hell. As far as I can tell, he made it as far as the owls and turned back.”
“Why didn’t he seal the tunnel off forever?”
Echard shrugged. “Probably knew there was no point. These islands are filled with underground passageways. They’d just find another way out. Besides, he was a man of the cloth, a true believer. He probably thought the best defense was a spiritual one.”
“But you put two and two together, stole the amulet, and came down here looking for the Lusca?”
“Exactly.”
Behind Echard, the surface of the lake began to bubble.
“Looks like the show is starting,” Echard said. “Don’t go anywhere. I imagine my new pet eats a lot.”
He gave the amulet a jerk. The cord snapped. Holding it out in front of him like a talisman, he approached the water.
“Where are you?” His eyes searched the depths. “Come to me.”
“It has to be in the water,” Maddock said. “At least, that’s what an old woman told us.”
Echard shot a glance back at him, frowned, considered. “Can’t hurt to try, I suppose. And don’t try to run. I’m an excellent shot.”
“Sure you are,” Maddock said. But he made no move to flee. He wanted to watch this.
Echard knelt at the water’s edge and dipped the amulet into the water. The surface began to churn.
“That’s it, baby. Come to papa!”
Slowly, something broke the frothy surface of the lake. It was the head of an octopus, but in his wildest dreams Maddock could not have imagined one this large. Its flesh was gray, its underside white. The mantle, the portion of its body that contained its vital organs, the portion most thought of as a head, came to a point, giving it a snoutlike appearance. Strange markings on either side of the mantle, charcoal gray with triangular white patches, vaguely resembled a shark’s open maw. Maddock could see now how the shark-octopus hybrid legend had sprung up.
Echard began to speak to the giant cephalopod as if uttering an incantation.
“Leviathan, great beast of the sea. By the power of the ancients, I command you.”
One by one, tentacles emerged from the water. The largest octopus Maddock had ever heard of, the giant Pacific, had an arm span of up to thirty feet. This one had to be well over a hundred, and that was based only on what he could see above the water. It could be even bigger.
“By your might you rule the oceans,” Echard intoned.
The tentacles began to sway. For the first time, Maddock truly appreciated the power of these creatures. They were powerful predators, all muscle and sinew, suction cups and crushing coils. He wondered if, like the Pacific octopus, Lusca was also venomous. At the thought he inched away.
Echard continued to babble, waving the amulet. Maddock didn’t know what Echard expected to happen, but Maddock didn’t want to be too close when it did. He began to inch away. He could have run—Echard was paying him no mind—but something made him stay. Echard was a murderer. He deserved what was about to happen.
The beast was growing agitated, its tentacles whipping about, the water churning. Echard seemed oblivious to it.
“I forgot to tell you!” Maddock yelled. “That’s not the real amulet.”
Echard whipped his head around.
Maddock took out the authentic amulet and held it up. Its crystal eye glowed bright blue.
“What do you mean?” Echard demanded. Eyes wide with horror, he turned around just as the Lusca wrapped one of its crushing coils around his waist and lifted him high in the air.
“No!” Echard screamed. “Leviathan, I command you to serve me!” He still held his pistol, and he emptied it into the giant creature. Every bullet found its mark, but they were like mosquito bites to the giant creature. Maddock wondered if they’d even managed to penetrate the thick hide.
The creature wasn’t listening. It whipped Echard from side to side, snapping his neck. Still holding his limp body by the waist, Lusca took hold of Echard’s wrists and ankles and pulled. Maddock had separated plenty of raw chickens in his time and the sound of Echard’s arms and legs being ripped from his body reminded him of popping the drumstick out of the joint. His stomach twisted. He’d seen plenty of death in his time, but this was particularly grisly. But it was no less than Echard deserved.
Still, it was time to get the hell out of here.
39
Thel led them through a series of natural passageways. They were small and not easy t
o traverse. They also seemed to be leading the group in the opposite direction from the way out.
“This isn’t the way we came,” Rae said.
“That’s the point. I don’t want to run into anyone.”
“What will happen to you when they find out you betrayed them?” Bones asked. He wasn’t sure why he cared after the chaos the young woman had caused. Still, he felt connected to her in an inexplicable way.
“I didn’t do anything,” she said. “You picked the lock. Obviously whoever searched you didn’t do a thorough job. Not my fault.”
“It’s still one a hell of a risk,” Bones said.
“Some among our number have lost their humanity, but not me. I’m told that in ancient times the Fins didn’t compel people to join their ranks. But as their population dwindled, they decided they couldn’t wait around for the occasional mortal to voluntarily join their ranks. That’s when they began resorting to force. And then when they came here and discovered the Water of Life, they had their solution. There was no need to force anyone after that. A sip of water and they were more than happy to come along.”
“It’s still compulsion,” Rae said.
Thel nodded. “I know.”
“Why my brother? Why did you kidnap him if you know it’s wrong?”
“I know you won’t believe me, but it didn’t happen like that.”
“You let him drink the water!" Rae said hotly.
“She didn’t give it to me,” Kyle said. He’d been quiet for so long that Bones had forgotten he was there. “I just snagged it and took a chug.”
“You did?” Rae gasped. “Why?”
“Bones kept talking about how good it was. I had to try it.”
“I thought he’d had too much. The way he was acting I was certain he had passed the point of no return. I thought maybe there was something the Fin could do for him.”
Rae laughed. “Why would they do that?”
“His crystal. It’s special.”
Kyle suddenly pressed his hand to his throat, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Hey, where is my crystal?”
“It’s right here.” She pointed to the crystal hanging from her own neck. There was something different about it.
“It’s glowing,” Bones said.
“It is a thing of the ancients. When I brought Kyle here, I thought I could barter it for help saving him, if any help could be found. By the time I got him down here, it had become obvious that what I observed was not the effects of the Water of Life. It was just... him.” She cleared her throat. “Since then, I’ve kept him confined to my quarters. They think I’m using him for, you know, but really I’ve just been keeping him away from the water until I could think of a way to get him out of this. I mean, he’s truly an innocent.”
Bones didn’t know what to say. It seemed Thel had a conscience, but that didn’t change the things she’d done.
“I know what you’re thinking. I don’t pretend that I’ve always done the right thing, but I’ve done what I had to do in order to survive. You were a soldier. You’ve done similar. Maybe you did it because your superiors told you to, but that doesn’t always make it the moral or ethical thing to do.”
Bones nodded. He vaguely remembered spilling his guts to her the first night they’d met. All the guilt, the demons that had driven him to drink. The nightmares he was still trying to wake up from.
“What were you saying about the crystal?” Willis asked, sensing the tension between them.
“There are ancient powers, mostly forgotten. Those who still believe are met with derision.”
“Preach!” Bones said. It wasn’t far from comments he had made when friends refused to listen to his legends and conspiracy theories.
“What power does this crystal have?” Willis asked.
“Let’s just say that it could be weaponized to terrible effect.”
“Really? That thing?” Rae asked. “Kyle always said it had powers.”
“All crystals have power,” Kyle said. “I actually studied gemstone therapy when I lived in California. I almost got my license, but the dude wanted a thousand dollars.”
Thel met Bones’ gaze and gave a tiny shake of the head. Her message was clear. She didn’t mean the usual New Age crap. What she was talking about was real and it was scary.
Predisposed as he was to believe conspiracy theories, this was difficult to swallow. At least the so-called Waters of Life enhanced existing biological functions. It was something he could wrap his head around. Even a giant octopus, a really huge one, seemed natural in its own way. But the idea that a surfer dude’s lucky necklace could be dangerous?
And then he remembered a question that had been nagging at him.
“Say, was that you who Maddock saw down in the blue hole?”
“Blue hole?”
“A couple of days ago at the Blue Descent competition, he thought he saw a woman swimming deep down in the blue hole. He said she looked exactly like you.”
“Hey, I think that chick did look like you!” Kyle said.
“That wasn’t me,” Thel snapped. She was visibly upset.
“No, it was totally you!” Kyle continued.
Thel raised a hand. “Quiet! This is the way out. Just follow this passageway. Any time you come to a fork, always take the way that goes up. At the end you will have to swim through an underwater channel. It’s not hard to find it when you know to look for it.”
“Willis can get them out safely,” Bones said. “I have to find Maddock.”
“No. I can’t let you risk it. I’ll find your friend and show him the way out.”
Bones smiled sadly. “You don’t know Maddock. He won’t leave just on your say-so. He’s stubborn like that.”
“No one is going anywhere.”
Out of the passageway strode a young woman dressed in a tunic and jerkin. She carried a sword in her right and a sword breaker in her left. Behind her came half a dozen more warriors all armed with spears. Bones couldn’t believe his eyes. This girl looked just like Thel, but a few years younger.
Bones took a step forward but Thel moved in front of him.
“Don’t do this Aggie,” Thel warned. “Just let them go. They won’t come back.”
“You know the rules, mother. No one leaves. Not ever.”
“Mother?” Bones said.
“This is my daughter, Aglaope. She was born a year after I was taken. She’s a true Finfolk.” There was deep sadness in Thel’s voice, but also a touch of pride. “She has recently forgotten that she is also human.”
“Being human is not a badge of honor,” Aglaope said.
“Look, I don’t want to get in the way of a family squabble,” Bones said. “It’s getting close to beer thirty, so we’re just going to get out of your hair.”
He took a few steps as if he intended to simply pass the Fins by. When Aglaope moved to block his path, he thrust the torch into her face, then delivered a push-kick to her chest that sent her flying backward into the group of warriors.
One of the men threw his spear at Bones, but he was falling backward, and the throw had no power. Bones caught it out of the air, reversed it, and struck the nearest warrior in the temple, knocking him out.
Still lying on the floor, Aglaope swung her sword awkwardly. Bones deflected it with the haft of the spear. And then he heard the sound of lots of footsteps coming their way. He turned to the others.
“Run!” He gave Willis a shove and they fled into darkness.
“Where are we going?” Willis asked.
“I don’t know,” Bones said. “Just not back that way.”
40
Maddock sprinted down the passageway, leaving the Lusca and the few remaining scraps of Echard behind. He had no idea where he was headed, or if this path could lead him to his friends. At least it would take him away from the monstrosity the lurked in the water.
The way twisted and turned, always leading him back to his right until he was certain he’d come in a circle. Up ahead, a g
olden glow told him he was approaching a lit chamber. He slowed to a walk and moved forward on silent feet.
He was approaching the treasure room. A massive heap of loot was piled just inside the doorway, blocking him from view. He peered inside. He was looking at the back of the chair on which the man in black had sat. Beyond it was the fountain, now empty. But past that, what he’d been unable to see before, was a blue grotto. The azure waters glowed with a dull light.
Passageways led off to either side of the chamber. One of those had to be the way forward. Left had been unlucky the last time, so he decided to take the right. He’d taken three steps when he heard someone clear his throat.
“It’s customary to knock.”
The man dressed all in black stepped out from behind a pile of treasure. He was well over six feet tall, nearly of a height with Bones. He wore a doublet, breeches, over-the-calf boots with folded cuffs, and a cutlass at his hip.
“If you’re supposed to be the Dread Pirate Roberts, you forgot the mask,” Maddock said.
“Black Bart?” the man said. “He was a solid captain, but dreaded? Hardly.”
“Never mind,” Maddock said. “But why are you dressed like that?”
“I’ve dressed this way for hundreds of years.” The man frowned, ran a hand through his wavy, shoulder-length black hair. “I know it’s been a few centuries but has everyone already forgotten Riddick Blackwood?”
Maddock’s heart skipped a beat. The man did resemble depictions of Blackwood. But it couldn’t be.
“Is this some game you cultists play? You dress up like someone from the past and try to convince us you’re immortal?”
The man called Blackwood smiled. “I understand your disbelief. I didn’t believe it either when I found this place. But I assure you it is true. I lost count after my one-hundredth birthday, but the others assure me I am more than three centuries old.”
“You look good for your age,” Maddock said. “I suppose that’s the Fountain of Youth back there? Or the Water of Life?”
Blackwood nodded. “I don’t understand how it works. It heals wounds, cures illnesses, and slows the aging process. I look a little bit older than I did when I arrived.” He touched a patch of gray at his temple. “But I expect to be around for a very long time.” He barked a rueful laugh.
