The Darkness at the Edge of Noon: a Thalassia novel

by Patrick McClafferty

  “That doesn’t sound too promising.” Padraig drawled. “Tactically it’s a sound plan. It means a lot of work, though.”

  “And each day things get more dangerous.” Logan sighed. “I know. There’s not much we can do about it.”

  “Ahhh.” Grady raised his hand, barely visible in the near darkness. “Can I un-volunteer?”

  Logan let out a quiet chuckle. “Sorry. You’ll have to take that up with your recruiter.”

  “You were my recruiter, if I remember.” The big man grumbled.

  “I know.” Logan pulled the pack straps tighter and stood, looking like the shadow of a strange humped-back troll. Let’s get rid of this last unit and begin heading inland. This place will be crawling with Zzzkntti come morning.” Someone moaned.

  The next night was a duplicate of the first, except that they moved more rocks, and by the first light of dawn, their backs were sorer. The goddess could send the speakers, but she couldn’t position them where they had to go for best coverage. Again, Selene provided them with a hot meal and information on the Zzzkntti numbers. They all groaned when she told them this looked to be a record year. They had only one more night to prepare.

  The final night began with a bitter wind from the north, and spitting sleet to boot. No matter what the K’Dreex could do, the men still found their hands becoming numb in the freezing weather, and lugging the awkward speakers more and more difficult. Each of the men had split and bleeding fingernails at this point, and although he never complained, Padraig seemed to be nursing a painful shoulder. Personally, Logan thought, he’d never felt so worn out or utterly exhausted in all his life. Slipping on an icy rock, Logan fell heavily on one knee, with his full weight plus the weight of the last remaining speaker. He bit his tongue to stifle the scream and tasted coppery blood.

  “Let me take that.” Padraig bent down and gently removed the pack from Logan’s back. “Are you OK?” He hefted the pack, and frowned at Logan’s continued silence.

  Logan wiped tears of pain from his eyes.

  Even the plucky K’Dreex sounded tired.

  < I’ll take the risk.>

  “I’m just fine, Padraig.” Logan struggled to his feet. “You taking that pack was just what I needed. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be as right as rain.”

  The tall second seated the pack more firmly. “I don’t think so. I’ll carry this last one. Where to?”

  Logan pointed to a cluster of boulders, a hundred yards distant. “There would do nicely.” Padraig gave one curt nod, and headed out.

  He was sweating when he returned, despite the cold. “Now what?” He sounded as exhausted as Logan felt.

  Logan jerked a thumb at a finger of rock that rose above the meeting bowl. “We get up there in the tag-end of this night, and spend the day there, setting this stuff up.”

  Padraig looked up, frowning. “Not much room for three grown men.”

  “I could send one of you back...” The two men gave him flat looks.

  “Selene would never forgive me.” The second-in-command said bluntly. “I’ll stay.”

  “What would my unborn child say if he found out that I ran away and left my friends in danger?” Grady had the same slightly amazed look on his face as he always did when talking about his unborn child. “I’ll stay.”

  “Thank you, gentlemen.” Logan said seriously. “Since you’re both going to be staying, I think I’ll leave. I could use a stiff drink and a warm bed.” He gave Padraig a wink. “I’ll give Selene a kiss for you, although I think that she’s looking for more than a kiss. More like your soul.”

  Hansen leaned back, grinning widely. “Ta ta then, old boy, and I think that the problems you have with one goddess will be more than enough to keep you occupied.” He blinked in mock surprise. “Are you still here? Good heavens, what a laggard.”

  “What?” Grady looked confused.

  The two men looked at Grady, and doubled up in quiet laughter.

  “Thank you.” Padraig said huskily, wiping his eyes.

  “Any time, my friend.”

  “I don’t understand...” Grady muttered, sounding slightly hurt.

  “Our illustrious leader was trying to make a crude joke, that didn’t work very well.”

  Oh.” The big man sounded dubious.

  “I suppose that we should all go.” Logan took a step, and his knee buckled. Padraig caught him before he hit the ground.

  “Bad?” Logan nodded silently. “I thought so, when you let me take the pack.” Hansen offered an arm, and helped Logan to his feet. “Good thing this is the last night. You seem to be falling apart, old boy.”

  “You’ll get yours.” Logan muttered under his breath.

  Logan asked, sweating with the effort of standing.

 

 

 

 

  She sounded grumpy. He rubbed his knee and felt the pain withdraw.

  “There. I’m much better now. Shall we go?”

  The climb to the top of the rocky spire was pure, unadulterated agony. The fractured rock was both sharp and brittle. All three men had shredded their fingertips by the time they reached the top. True to Padraig’s guess, the flatish peak was small, and offered scant cover. Logan took the one small depression, and had Selene send in the player unit with several copies of the data crystals. The other men shifted rocks around to give themselves some space to maneuver.

  As the sun began to rise above the treetops, the Zzzkntti began to arrive, and the activities in the bowl below began. Logan watched from a small space between the rocks, while the others slept and for the rest of his life he wished he hadn’t.

  The Festival of Blood was a very apt name and as the Zzzkntti warriors filed into the small one mile basin, the sacrifices began. Logan stared, horrified. While most of the sacrifices were animals of varying sizes and shapes, not all were. Logan saw old, infirm, deformed and female Zzzkntti dragged mewling to the sacrifice block, where they were butchered like so much cattle, their blood drained and collected into dark wooden vessels, to be passed among the hooting members of the crowd. As the setting sun touched the tree tops, the Zzzkntti captors brought out the humans. The hooting rose to a roar, almost blotting out the screams of the men and women. Almost. Logan looked away, sickened, to find the other men staring at him.

  “We can’t do anything.” He whispered, desperately wanting them to understand. “If we start the music now we won’t get all the Zzzkntti. The leaders won’t get here until moonrise an hour or so from now. We HAVE TO wait.”

  Padraig touched his arm. “We understand, Logan. It’s a bad business.”

  “An we’re savin’ these beasties?” Grady sounded shocked and angry.

  Logan simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

  Hades was bathing the bowl in a horrid red moonlight when the Zzzkntti leaders arrived. All the sacrifices had been made, the blood drunk and the bodies of the slain: animal, Zzzkntti and human, tossed like refuse on the midden heap at the side of the hollow.

  Padraig and Grady had drawn their swords, discarding their scabbards and anything else that might encumber them in the following minutes. All three had inserted little plugs provided by Selene into their ears. She had warned them that the sheer volume of the music would be immense. The howls and hoots from the bowl were reaching a crescendo when Logan took the data crystal, muttering a silent prayer to the gods of battle, and inserted it into player. The crystal sank out of sight, and a small green light appeared on the surface of the unit.

  The trumpet fanfare, from “Fanfare for the Common Man,” by Aaron Copeland rang out, freezing all the Zzzkntti in their respective tracks. Spears dropped from numb hands, and the jaws of the Zzzkntti that h
ad been an hour before drinking hot human blood hung slack.

  Below their lofty perch Logan saw six or eight Zzzkntti clutching their spears, looking wildly at their stricken comrades. Hand signs flashed, and Logan frowned. This group couldn’t hear the music! Either tone deaf or totally deaf, that bunch wouldn’t respond to the soothing effects of the music.

  “Well, all be.” Grady poked his head up over the rocks, looking down into the bowl with awe. “Them Zzzkntti are just...”

  “Grady, get...”

  The spear caught Grady in the forehead, between the eyes and the stone tip protruded a good two inches from the back of his head before his lifeless body fell off the spire.

  “Damn!” Logan swore, ripping out his ear plugs. “We have to hold this peak for another seven or eight minutes, to be sure that the music has it’s desired effect. Eight minutes.”

  Padraig nodded, taking a quick glance over the edge before ducking back. A spear clattered on the rock. “Six on their way up. The rest are still staring.”

  Logan drew his sword, and gave his second a formal salute. “It has been an honor serving with you, Padraig.”

  The tall man returned the compliment. “Don’t write us off yet, Logan. We may still win the day.” There was a sound of clawed hands on sharp rock.

  “It’s night, Padraig.” Logan chuckled, and checked his footing.

  “Picky, picky, picky.”

  The first Zzzkntti head poked up and over the rocks just as the “Blue Danube” waltz began. Padraig’s sword neatly removed the top of his head and the creature fell away. On his side, Logan split his first Zzzkntti skull from crown to chin, and the falling body swept the second off the rock also.

  “Five more minutes!” Logan called over his shoulder, as he blocked a spear thrust to his chest.

  “No problem.” Padraig grunted, sending a green arm flying. The monster let out a piercing scream. The two men fought on.

  Logan saw Padraig stumble and go down. Without thinking, he put his hand to his chest.

  “Medin! Get Padraig out of here, NOW!”

  “But...”

  “Now!”

  “Yes, sir.” Padraig vanished just as the final bars of the waltz washed over the sea of frozen faces.

  The two remaining Zzzkntti faces twisted toward him. Turning to face the rush, Logan felt his knee give with a sharp pop for probably the last time. Grabbing the two creatures, he pushed off with his good leg, carrying them over the edge of the cliff with him.

  As luck would have it, he landed on top of them, so the fall didn’t kill him instantly. He’d heard the crack and felt the searing pain in his back, followed by a spreading numbness.

 

  Through his open eyes Logan saw a lone Zzzkntti raise a spear to plunge into his chest. Other green arms reached out, took the spear away and led the struggling Zzzkntti off. Things were beginning to get dark around the edges when he saw a familiar face.

  “Maeve?” She bent and kissed him gently and the pattern of freckles finally clicked. “Rhiannon?”

  “It took you long enough.” She was smiling. “I’m glad I got to you in time.”

  “You call this in time?”

  “You’ll see.” She put her soft hand on his chest. “Medin, bring us home. Logan will need to be repaired.”

  “Again?” A cultured male voice said dryly.

  The world dissolved in a soft white light.

  Chapter 23

  “Logan?” He opened his eyes and beheld a glowing nimbus before him.

  “You really are a goddess now.” His throat was dry, and his voice sounded - frail.

  There was a light laugh. “Hold your arm up, Logan. Hold it up in front of your face.”

  Something amorphous and white drifted in front of his eyes. “Ahhh. Is that me? Am I dead?”

  “Yes, it’s you and, no, you are not dead. You gave it you best shot, however. Just concentrate on your former shape. Your mind will remember all the little details.”

  He watched his various parts come together, and he felt revitalized, renewed - repaired. He blinked. The fireplace, couch and chairs were all familiar.

  “Welcome home, Logan.” The glowing nimbus solidified and became Rhiannon, dressed in a clinging white wisp of nothing that was scarcely there. “I’m somewhat displeased with you.” Her perfect face grew serious. “You came a heartbeat from dying, Logan MacKennit.” Placing a long finger alongside her slender jaw, “I suppose that I’ll have to marry you, even if you are a bit battered and worn. It’s the only way, really, to keep you safe.”

  Logan’s jaw was hanging open, and he closed it with a snap. “How can you talk about marriage? I’m a human and you’re a... hells, I don’t even know what you are, other than a goddess, a damn beautiful woman, and the one I love.” He shook his head, confused.

  She smiled. “Well, as long as we love each other, then we can just work out the other little problems.”

  “Don’t play with him, Rhiannon.” The voice of Medin was deep, and fatherly. “Tell him what you did.”

  “Spoilsport.” She turned her violet eyes on Logan, and he felt his knees wobble—so he sank into a convenient couch. Rhiannon sat beside him, their hips touching, and took his hand. “Do you remember the first time you came to Medin?” He nodded slowly. “Good. Remember how you looked all ghostly and white, and I told you that your body would remember how to put itself back together?” Another nod. “Well, that’s what I look like too. That’s what WE look like. You and I.” Her smile was radiant. “You came to work for me with no thought for compensation. That was your first mistake. I gave you what I thought appropriate. You’ve been processed by Medin three times now—with this last time the most complete, because you were so close to physical death. Each time you were processed you became a bit less human, and more like Selene and me. It started when you got your medallion. Now you are exactly like us.”

  Logan looked her up and down, and gave her a wicked smile. “I am not exactly like you; there ARE certain differences you know.” Her face reddened. “So, you’re saying that we can get married?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Logan gave her a direct look. “Goddess Rhiannon, I am asking for your hand in marriage. Will you have me?”

  “Well...” There was a deep growl from Medin. “Oh, of course I’ll have you! I’ve had my eye on you since we first met, back in the cave.” Logan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

  “And who, exactly, marries a goddess?”

  “Oh, that would be Medin, but I’d better tell you something first.”

  “Ohhh?” He commented suspiciously.

  “Marriage among our kind is permanent and forever.”

  “Nothing is forever, Nan.”

  Her smile was teasing. “This is both, permanent and forever. It’s also very close; mindreading close.”

  He laughed. “You wouldn’t want to read my mind.”

  Her laughter was like small silver bells. “Logan, I’ve been reading your mind since you got that medallion. Now you’ll be able to read mine too.”

  “Well now.” A thought occurred to him.

  The voice in his head laughed.

  Logan gave a mental snort, and next to him Rhiannon laughed.

  Jade’s voice turned serious.

 

 

  Logan chuckled.

  ife, I’ve found, is sweet. I too, no longer wish to die.>

 

  Rhiannon took his hand, smiling. “One last thing.” Her voice was suspiciously nonchalant. “Which moon do you want?”

  Logan frowned. “Say again?”

  “Which moon? We have two vacant ones at the moment, since Eos left Lethe and Pallas left Hades.”

  “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Logan was stunned.

  “Of course. You are now one of us. Basically, a god to other humans.”

  “Does that mean I’ll have to live there, while you...”

  “No silly.” She snuggled a little closer, and he felt her warmth through the sheer fabric of her clothes. “You will just get your power from there. You’ll live here, with me. This is, and will always be, your home.”

  “I...” The door chimed softly; Rhiannon and Logan exchanged flat looks. “It appears as though we’ll have to fix the door, miss.” Medin murmured dryly.

  “Obviously.” She sighed. “Come.”

  Tam stepped into the room, took one look at the two of them and flushed bright red. “Damn, I’m sorry to bother you two—but since you’re both here I thought that...”

  Rhiannon said as gently as she could while still gritting her teeth. “Logan and I were just discussing our wedding plans.” The Mayor backed toward the door, eyes wide. He knew better than to stay. “Sorry,” he said as he pivoted out.

  “In fifteen minutes it will be all around the Moon. Tam’s the biggest gossip in town.”

  “I know.” Her little grin was mischievous. “There’s no way out for you now, Logan MacKennit.

  He took her face in his hands and kissed her, slowly and lingeringly, savoring the sweet taste of strawberry. “Who says I ever wanted to get away from you?”