The Bones of Makaidos

by Bryan Davis

  Gabriel stared at the barrier. The chamber faded away, as did the man and unicorn, leaving a transparent glass-like sheet. Glare from the sunshine provided the only hint that it was there at all. Now the back of the garden came into view, as if the gateway to another world had become a window.

  “We should go to the village,” Acacia said as she pointed toward a forest on the other side of a field. “It’s just beyond those trees. We can get cleaned up and find someone to look at the scratches on your legs.”

  Gabriel looked at his filthy body. Acacia was right about cleaning up, but it was more important to get Mardon’s research going than to get a doctor to look at a few scratches. With only a strand of hair and some skin cells providing clues, Mardon might need help in figuring out what was wrong with Acacia. Could Ashley provide what he needed? Maybe. Certainly by now she would have advanced the technology in this world.

  “Okay. Let’s go.” Walking between Shiloh and Acacia, he took their hands and headed toward the trees. Mardon followed quietly. As Gabriel glanced back at the dirty, scarred mad scientist, a tingle ran up his spine. Maybe trusting him was a mistake, but there seemed to be no choice. Acacia was dying, and saving her was all that mattered.

  Chapter 14

  The Calm before the Storm

  Billy lay on a hospital bed, a proper bed with sheets and a blanket, far better than the cots in the old triage hut. A leather bandage wrapped around his ribcage several times, covering his otherwise bare chest. After pushing the blanket down to his toes and stripping to thin, pajama-like trousers, he had done all he could to stay cool. For some reason, the room had grown much too warm.

  Underneath his arm bandage, sweat stung his wound. That was by far the deeper of the two cuts, but the spear didn’t rip any tendons, so it would heal fine.

  Ashley bustled in, carrying a thin stack of parchments and a feather pen. After scratching a few marks on the top page, she smiled. “Are you ready to check out?”

  “You bet.” Billy sat up. “Only five hours in a hospital. That has to be a new record.”

  “The record is the temperature outside. My homemade thermometer says thirty-two degrees Celsius.”

  He half closed an eye. “So that’s about ninety Fahrenheit?”

  “Very good. It’s eighty-nine point six, but my meter isn’t exactly precise, so give or take a couple of degrees.”

  He let out a whistle. “The locals must be roasting.”

  “They are, especially the sick ones.” She poked his shoulder with her finger. “That’s why I want you out. You got a few hours’ sleep. That should be enough for a warrior like you.”

  He gave her a thankful smile. “What’s the rush?”

  “We’re taking the hospital back into the air. It should be cooler up there, and if the new army shows up, everyone will be safer.”

  A knock sounded at the door, and a sweet voice sang out, “I have something for you.” Bonnie walked in with a bundle of clothes, his village battle uniform. As her wings waved at him, she patted the top of her pile. “All clean and ready for my warrior.”

  Billy reached for her hand. Her own uniform looked sharp, obviously freshly laundered, though a rip in her right sleeve revealed that she hadn’t had time to mend it. The scratch on her cheek was already healing nicely. Although it probably wouldn’t leave a scar, it made her look like the sword maiden she was.

  He caressed her knuckles, causing her to grimace. “Oh. Sorry.” He looked at her hand. A deep gash ran across her knuckles from her index finger to her pinky.

  She pulled her hand back and examined her wound. “It’s not bad. Just superficial. But I didn’t want a bandage. I need to keep my fingers free.”

  “I don’t blame you. A sword maiden needs her hands to be unbound.”

  Smiling, she showed him her other hand. “And I hope you don’t mind. I moved the engagement ring for now. It irritates the wound.”

  “I don’t mind at all.”

  She touched the bandage on his arm. “How’s your wound?”

  Billy nodded at Ashley. “Better ask the doctor.”

  “It’s pretty deep, but he’ll be fine.” Ashley took the clothes from Bonnie and tossed them on Billy’s legs. “Get up, tiger. Bonnie and I’ll meet you outside.”

  Giving him a wave and a smile, Bonnie spun on her toes and hurried to the door with a bounce in her step. When the door closed, Billy got up and put on his long-sleeved undershirt. Wearing all three layers would be warm, but necessary. The second layer, the metallic shirt, would chafe his skin without protection, and the tighter over-tunic held everything in place.

  When he pulled up the uniform’s green pants and tucked in the shirt, a loud knock sounded. He buckled his belt and called, “Come in.”

  The door swung open, and Bonnie ran through. Alarm filled her eyes. “They’re coming!”

  “Goliath’s army?” Billy threw the mail shirt over his head and pulled it down.

  She nodded briskly. “Your father was on patrol and saw them leaving the marsh.”

  “Did he describe them?”

  “They look like something out of a history book; Romans from Caesar’s time, Egyptians from the days of Moses, Chinese from an ancient dynasty, and they have full armor, horses, and chariots.”

  Billy stuffed his head through his tunic and thrust the hem down his torso. As he looked into her wide eyes, he spoke in a calm tone. “How many?”

  “Two hundred, maybe. But that might be just the first wave. They’re not marching very fast, but they could be here in about forty-five minutes.”

  “Let’s move!” Billy grabbed his sword belt, Excalibur still attached, and swung it around his waist. As he buckled it on, they hurried through the hospital’s long hallway. “Were they wearing cloaks like the Vacants had?”

  “No,” she said as she jogged at his side, “but your father said they seemed to be coated with something reddish, like powder.”

  “Rust.” He burst through the double exit doors, held one for a moment while Bonnie hurried through, then ran across the dragon landing platform. Taking Bonnie’s hand, he leaped to the ground three feet below, bypassing a makeshift stairway.

  “Hey! Wait up!” Walter jumped down and joined them. “Ashley sprung me from the hospital. I’m ready to roll.”

  “Did you hear about the army?” Billy asked.

  Walter shrugged. “What’s a few hundred historically misplaced soldiers? They won’t even speak the same language. They have to be as confused as a herd of cows landing on Mars.”

  “Charging bulls, maybe, but good point. We’ll see.” Together, all three dashed into the village. When they reached the central circle, Valiant, Elam, and Sapphira stood next to the bell, each wearing full battle gear as well as somber faces. With the bell still and silent, they obviously hadn’t sounded an alarm.

  “Where’s everyone else?” Billy asked.

  Flexing his forearm, Elam strangled the hilt of the sword protruding from its hip scabbard. “Sick or helping with the sick. It looks like Ashley was right. Only the Second Edeners are getting it. They don’t seem to be immune like we are.”

  “We’re guessing it’s a bug from Earth,” Sapphira said.

  Elam took Sapphira’s hand. “We speculated that it came with the rubellite Billy’s mother sent. The timing would be about right.”

  “A bug actually on the gem?” Billy shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. It would have to survive exposure and then a trip through a fiery wall.”

  “Or maybe,” Elam said, “a certain witch introduced the virus through one of her witch’s brews.”

  Billy shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Elam was probably right again. Semiramis had been following a plan from day one, and this disease was likely just part of the scheme. The huge army they were building proved that she didn’t need Flint or his people. They were pawns, and their sickness provided a way to spread the virus, both through the shadow people and through the survivors in Flint’s village. Ru
th’s illness had been short-lived and her symptoms were quite different, so that seemed unrelated. This was definitely biological warfare.

  “No matter who brought it,” Elam continued, “it’s here, and we have to deal with it. Since most of our villagers have it, the remaining healthy women and children are taking care of the sick. Valiant is one of the few Second Eden warriors left standing.”

  “Candle will join us soon,” Sapphira said. “He’s flying the plane to get an update on troop count and movements, and Yereq and Sir Barlow are at the field by the birthing garden waiting for him to return.”

  Billy imagined a thundering horde stampeding toward the little village—iron chariots, charging horses, and savages with blood-thirsty hearts. “That’s just not enough,” he said. “How can we possibly defeat so many?”

  Lifting a hand, Valiant looked up at the clear sunny sky. “Only by faith. Without help from above we are doomed. Listener is organizing a prayer vigil in the hospital. When Candle returns, we will gather and send our prayers into the sky as an appeal to the Father of Lights.”

  “So we have …” Walter lifted his fingers in rapid succession. “Me, Elam, Billy, Bonnie, Valiant, Candle, Yereq, Sir Barlow, and Sapphira. That’s nine of us and the dragons.” He let out a whistle. “I don’t know about you, but if we’re facing hundreds of crazed warriors trained to kill, I’d like at least ten.”

  “You got it!” Ashley strode toward them wearing an oversized battle uniform and clutching the hilt of a sword at her belt. Stopping at Walter’s side, she squared her shoulders. “I’m not as skilled as any of you, but I’ve sparred enough with Walter.”

  Walter grinned. “I won’t argue with that!”

  She nudged him playfully with an elbow. “Don’t get me started.”

  “What about the patients?” Bonnie asked.

  “They have Doc, Patrick, Ruth, Steadfast, Marilyn, and Listener taking care of them,” Ashley said, “and one very interesting addition. It turns out that Hunter is really Mardon, the crazy scientist who tried to bring Heaven and Earth together. It’s a long story, but Gabriel met him while trying to find Shiloh and Acacia. Gabriel’s body has been restored, and he brought all three back here.”

  Sapphira nearly leaped off her feet. “Acacia’s here?”

  Ashley nodded toward the hospital. “She’s here, but she’s not well. She has some sort of degenerative disease.” She touched Sapphira’s arm tenderly. “I don’t think she’ll last much longer. Doc’s working with Mardon to figure out what’s going on. If anyone can solve the puzzle, I think they will.”

  “We can’t trust Mardon,” Elam said. “He’s been posing as Hunter and working with Semiramis for years. You can bet that he’ll use his research against us. He just wants to get into Heaven by force.”

  Ashley laughed under her breath. “Believe me, Patrick and Marilyn already accused him of every crime in the book. He claims that he has always loved the two Oracles, and he won’t betray them. There are plenty of people in the hospital to watch his every move.”

  Sapphira looked up at Elam, tears brimming. “Isn’t there any way we can let him try? If he can save Acacia, then maybe we can stop him from doing anything else.”

  Tightening his jaw, Elam gazed at Sapphira for several seconds. It seemed that a battle was raging in his mind, a struggle between judgment and mercy. Finally, he nodded. “Only if Acacia stays away from him.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Ashley said. “Gabriel won’t let him touch her. Mardon has a strand of Acacia’s hair to work with, and that’s all he’ll get. But it should be enough. He and Doc will use my lab equipment in the hospital, and they’ll be floating high above the village while Gabriel, Shiloh, and Acacia stay here.”

  “So, where is Acacia now?” Sapphira asked.

  “Getting cleaned up. Shiloh’s helping her in the ladies’ washroom, while Marilyn’s patching up Gabriel. He got some nasty-looking scratches on his legs.”

  “Did my mother ever get to talk to my father?” Billy asked.

  Bonnie touched his arm. “While we were rescuing Walter.”

  “I was there,” Elam said. “It was pretty good. I think you could call their interaction ‘subdued joy,’ but they talked more about you than each other.”

  Biting his lip, Billy nodded. He could picture the scene. Mom hadn’t seen Dad in almost five years, and now he was a dragon again. They probably just looked at each other while they talked, both aching to embrace. But the scales-on-skin contact would have been like acid, a reminder that they were still worlds apart. Mom’s love was still as strong as ever, but the blend of joy and pain had to be tearing her heart in two.

  “Anyway,” Ashley continued, “back to the original topic. We weren’t able to isolate the bug, but I mixed up an elixir that might help. There’s really not much more I can do. Doc knows more about cell structures and medicines than I do.” She curled her arm around Walter’s. “And I want to be with my fiancé. Someone has to watch his back.”

  “I’m glad to have you with me,” Walter said, “but I’m afraid I might be watching out for you more than fighting the bad guys.”

  She raised a finger near his eyes. “If you do, I’ll kick you in the backside. And if you’re going to die, I’m coming with you. You’re not going to Heaven without me.”

  Walter raised his hands. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Besides,” Ashley said, “I have to make sure our fuel trap works.”

  “Are we sticking with Candle flying the plane?” Billy asked. “If their troops are protected with rust, Excalibur won’t do much good, so maybe I should fly it.”

  Elam touched the hilt of his sword. “We still need Excalibur in the battle. Maybe some of the enemy won’t be as protected as others. Windor’s sick, but he still wants to be the bombardier for Candle, so we’ll go with the original plan.”

  “Good thing they didn’t bring Nazis with machine guns and tanks,” Walter said. “I’m not sure who’s in Hades, but you’ve got to figure some of them were.”

  “So, where are the dragons?” Billy asked.

  Elam nodded toward the northeast. “They’re lining up along the village border. Since most of our dragon riders are sick, we’ll have to fill in. Dikaios is with the dragons, and he’s supposed to meet us with a new report soon.”

  “Sounds good,” Billy said. “We’ll just have to do the best we can.”

  “Let’s get moving.” Elam gripped Billy’s elbow and led him down the street. “There’s something I have to show you, something strange in the garden.”

  As the others followed, Billy tried to read Elam’s face. “Have you taken care of the plants?”

  “All but the one I planted. Before he got sick, Windor dug them up and hauled a lot of the soil to the new garden in the hospital.” Elam broke into a jog. “You’ll have to see what I mean.”

  Billy kept pace. Behind him, the sounds of running footsteps echoed in the empty village. When they reached the field, now completely free of snow and basking in warm sunshine, they slowed to negotiate the mixture of mud and grass. Yereq and Sir Barlow stood at the far end of the field, looking up at the sky. The low buzz of a propeller sounded from somewhere, signaling Candle’s approach. With the snow gone and the mud drying, his landing wouldn’t be as difficult as usual.

  Ahead, something shimmered in the garden, a rectangular shape so large, it seemed to have no borders on either side or at the top.

  Elam quick-marched along a furrow while Billy followed in the one next to it. With the plants gone, no one had to worry about tripping and hurting one of the babies.

  Coming to a sudden stop a few paces away from the shining rectangle, Elam stretched out his hand and waved it over the light. “It’s like a force field. It tingles when I get close, so I wasn’t sure if I should touch it. It reminds me of the wall I saw at the Bridgelands, but it was blue there, and you couldn’t see through it. This one’s transparent.”

  Billy shielded his eyes. “It’s
like sunlight on water, almost blinding.”

  “And look at this.” Elam pointed with the toe of his shoe. The only remaining birthing plant stood just inches in front of the base of the wall. The leaves, although green on the surface, emanated a reddish glow from within.

  “Too close for comfort?” Billy asked.

  “Right. Windor moved the others before this wall showed up. I told him to leave this one here, because I thought there might still be a chance of resurrecting Makaidos. I hope it’s okay where it is.”

  When the others caught up, Sapphira stepped close to the force field. “It’s a portal. I can sense it.”

  “Your eyesight?” Elam asked.

  “My sight and the feeling of sorrow.” She knelt next to the plant. “I can see inside this fragile shell. Our dear friend Makaidos is within, but unlike other unborns at this stage, he cannot survive without two essential catalysts that will give him life. We can provide one of those now.” She looked up at Ashley. “Do you have the crystal egg I formed out of your father’s tears?”

  “Always.” Ashley pulled a thin necklace and lifted a glassy egg from behind her tunic.

  Sapphira extended her hand. “May I have it? This is the first catalyst.”

  “Of course.” Ashley reached behind her neck, unfastened a clasp, and laid the necklace in Sapphira’s palm. “Anything for my father.”

  “I hope I’m doing this correctly. Our teacher in the Valley of Souls had no egg to demonstrate with.” Sapphira closed her fist around the crystal. For a few seconds, a flaming halo encircled her hand. When she spread out her fingers, the egg glowed with a blinding white light. Using a finger, she dug a shallow hole directly under the roots and pushed the egg in. As soon as she covered it over with soil, a stream of light crawled up the stem, as if an iridescent dye flowed vertically through its channels. When the stream flowed into the pair of leaves, they vibrated with a rhythmic beat.

  Soon, the light faded, and the plant returned to normal. Sapphira petted the leaves softly. “I see a heart beating. Perhaps it was there before, but it’s clear and strong now.”