The Spear of Destiny

by Julian Noyce

  “My God!” Hutchinson said as Von Werner’s skin lost its scars and it too went back to normal.

  Strange animal growling noises began rising from the crevice and filled the cavern. The men with guns began shifting about nervously. Pointing the guns around them searching for the sounds.

  “Von Werner,” Dennis said, “You need to step back away from the edge.”

  The German count was running his fingers over his new skin. He looked up at Dennis.

  “What?”

  “I said, you need to step away from the edge. There is something down there. Something not of this world.”

  Now for the first time Von Werner heard the strange animal sounds coming from the chasm. He rushed to the spear and snatched it up just as the first of the creatures reached the lip of the crevice. White hands ending in long talon like fingers reached over the edge of the gap. The fingernails like claws. Then their heads appeared, hairless with black eyes. Their mouths demon like, the teeth long and pointed. Von Werner backed away from the edge and moved closer to Dennis. More and more of the creatures came over the lip. Dennis counted over twenty of them. They moved towards the sarcophagus and spaced themselves out, snarling at the intruders. They stood crouched, ape like, their hands down by their knees. Some wore stained loincloths, grey compared to their pasty white skin. Others were wearing rags of red clothing.

  They stood menacing, their upper bodies rising and falling with their laboured breathing.

  “Wait! Don’t shoot!” Von Werner shouted as he saw Petrov about to fire. All eyes of the creatures snapped to him.

  “What the hell are they?” Von Werner asked.

  “Pete! Look at the red clothing.”

  “They’re the remains of togas,” Dennis said, “Holy shit! These things were once Romans!”

  The creatures remained standing where they were, low groans coming from the lips. Then there came another animal sound and still snarling they moved apart clearing a space in the middle of them. Another pair of white hands appeared over the lip and then the head appeared. This creature stopped and looked at the humans with red eyes. Then this creature also came over the lip and moved near the sarcophagus. From the way the other things moved from this one’s path all who watched realised its importance to them.

  “It must be their leader or whatever the hell it is,” Hutchinson said.

  Dennis was staring at the red eyes.

  “Holy shit! It’s him!”

  “Who?”

  “Longinus!”

  “Longinus?”

  “Yeah. Remember in legend he had pink eyes.”

  The creature was studying them. Then the red eyes fell on the spear. The creature moved to it and picked it up. Instantly the blue sparks returned and as they watched the white skin turned to flesh colour and the eyes returned to normal. The creature suddenly lunged forward but Hutchinson, the only one present who spoke latin, suddenly moved forward.

  “Is your name Longinus?” he asked in the ancient language.

  The man now in front of them stopped.

  “You speak the language of the emperors,” he asked.

  “Yes,” Hutchinson said. He took a step closer to the creature. Natalie grabbed his arm but Hutchinson gaining confidence pulled her hand away. Von Werner encouraged now stepped forward as well, eager to be part of this unfolding miracle.

  “You are the one called Longinus?” Hutchinson asked.

  “I am Gaius Longinus. Loyal servant to the emperor Tiberius,” Longinus answered.

  “Do you know what year it is?” Hutchinson asked.

  The creature stared at him puzzled. Then its eyes focused on the spear again. Hutchinson clearly forgotten.

  “You have been alive for two thousand years,” the American said in perfect latin.

  “I serve the empire for eternity,” came the answer.

  “Your empire is dead,” Von Werner said, placing his hand on the spear, “It has been dead for fifteen hundred years.”

  Hutchinson looked puzzled at the German Count, who smiled.

  “I too speak Latin. Or did you think you were the only educated man here?”

  Longinus was no longer listening. He suddenly snatched the spear away from Von Werner’s touch. Von Werner grabbed it and tried to pull it back but the Roman was too strong and Von Werner was losing the fight. Petrov suddenly stepped forward.

  “Enough of this,” he said.

  He flicked the safety off his AK-74M and fired a burst at Longinus hitting the creature in the chest. Longinus yelled and crashed to the ground.

  “Petrov No!“ Von Werner shouted.

  The other creatures snarled and moved menacingly closer. Longinus turned over slowly on the ground and began to get up. He then said something short and swift in Latin. The creatures near the men with guns suddenly pounced. One sunk its teeth into the throat of a Russian mercenary and ripped it out. Dennis shoved Hutchinson back towards the way they’d come in. he grabbed Natalie’s hand, ran forward a few paces and grabbed Katya’s hand and shouted,

  “RUN!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Dennis shoved Natalie and Katja towards the narrow pass in the rocks. Hutchinson had already gone through. Katja was struggling to run in her three inch heels and she took them off and kept them in her hand, refusing to let go of a pair of shoes that had cost her five hundred euros.

  The cavern was filled with the sound of gunfire and the howls of men and the white skinned creatures that had so long ago been Roman legionaries.

  As the women rushed for the gap Dennis turned to a scene of carnage. He saw one of Von Werner’s men firing from the hip when one of the creatures dropped down on him from the wall above. It slashed at the man’s throat with its long fingernails, then it grabbed the man’s head and twisted, breaking the neck. Slowly it turned to look at Dennis with its teeth bared dripping blood. Then it was sent crashing sideways by a burst of bullets and it roared in anguish and bounced off the wall and knelt shaking its head and growling. Dennis rushed to the dead mercenary and snatched up the fallen man’s Kalashnikov. He fired the AK-74M at the creature and was relieved to see that the bullets which struck it in the head appeared to kill it. With a last howl it slumped against the wall and stopped moving.

  “Shoot them in the head!” he roared.

  He saw one mercenary grappling with one of the monsters when the pair of them exploded. The mercenary’s grenades having somehow been pulled in the struggle. A rain of blood and flesh rained down.

  Von Werner was trapped near the edge of the crevice. He was between the sarcophagus and Longinus who was still holding the spear. Petrov was working his way towards his boss. He was firing a Remington 870 assault shotgun he’d taken from one of the SAS men he’d murdered. Firing from the hip he was blasting the creatures. Now he was almost on top of Longinus and he blasted him in the side. Strangely no blood came from the wound and he saw the black pellet holes heal in front of his very eyes. Longinus turned towards Petrov and roared his defiance. Petrov blasted him three more times in the chest and Longinus staggered backwards towards the edge. Petrov pumped the shotgun once more and fired again. Longinus dropped the spear and stumbled backwards into open air and fell from sight. Petrov suddenly yelled in agony as one of the white skinned monsters slashed the back of his head and neck. He turned with the shotgun and fired but the creature had already bounded away. Another creature grabbed the shotgun and yanked it out of Petrov’s hands and threw it away. Petrov fumbled for his handgun and drew it and fired twice at the vile being. He hit it in the throat and it roared away clutching the wound. Then it snarled at the Russian marksman and leapt at him. It knocked the handgun out of his hand and he was able to move out of its way enough to draw out his large hunting knife. The creature leapt at him again and he drove the eight inch blade straight into the white torso. The sharp blade slid in to the hilt. The creature howled and spat it’s foul saliva into Petrov’s face. Then it ripped at his face with its wicked talons. Despite the pain and bein
g almost blinded Petrov was able to pull the knife out and slash the monster’s throat. It fell away clutching the gaping wound.

  “I can’t hold them off much longer,” he yelled at Von Werner, “Save yourself Sir.”

  Another white skinned monster jumped at him and landed on his back knocking him to the floor. The one with the slashed throat, still horribly alive and unfazed by its injury, slashed at him and then another dived on him and Dennis watched as the three of them tore him to pieces.

  Dennis shot one of them and then another in the head. They fell where they were and were still. The third bounded away before he could fire and Dennis aimed the Kalashnikov at Von Werner’s head. The German Count stood slowly to his full height and stared down the barrel at certain death. Then Dennis lowered the gun.

  “You need to get out of here.”

  Von Werner stared at him incredulously.

  “You’re letting me go?”

  “You need to help Katja. Your daughter should not die here today in this God forsaken place. Go!”

  Von Werner nodded once at Dennis then bent down and snatched up the spear. He ran towards the narrow gap in the cavern where Natalie, Hutchinson and Katja had run. Dennis fired at another creature knocking it into the wall then set off after Von Werner. Tosh was firing single shots from a handgun while backing one step at a time towards the gap.

  “You should have killed him when you had the chance. Always take the shot.”

  “We wouldn’t have been able to take his body with us,” Dennis said, “And besides we’re not out of this yet and may need him.”

  Dennis pressed himself into the narrow gap.

  “Go!” Tosh ordered, “I’m right behind you.”

  He followed Dennis into the neck of the gap. Tosh pulled the pins on three grenades and lobbed them back into the cavern. The resulting explosion was deafening in the narrow space as Dennis and Tosh rushed after Von Werner. They could hear the creatures rushing into the narrow gap behind them.

  “Go on!” Tosh shouted. He stopped and turned back. The creatures were slowed by the narrowness of the passage and Tosh shot the first one as it appeared around the bend in the head. It crashed to the ground and the one behind stumbled over it. The SAS Captain emptied some rounds into this one as well. He loaded a new clip then heard a roar from above and one of the creatures dropped down on him slashing at his head. Tosh felt the excruciating pain and he shot the creature dead. He wiped the blood that was running into his eyes and groped after Dennis who was waiting for him as the narrow cut widened again.

  “Come on,” Dennis yelled, grabbing the man and helping him, pushing him on after the others.

  Natalie, Katja, Hutchinson, Dennis, Tosh, Von Werner and the remainder of the mercenaries burst through the iron barred doors, up the stairs and into the bright sunlight. They could hear the creatures bounding up the steps behind them. When the white skinned beings burst out into the light they threw their hands up in front of their eyes, snarling at the bright sunlight as they were blinded for a moment.

  Back in the cavern Longinus climbed over the lip of the crevice. His eyes had gone red again and his skin white. He stood with his chest rising and falling heavily and then with an animal roar he bounded ape like towards the cut in the rocks.

  Outside Deano and Smithy heard the shouts from the people and heard the animal roars and began running towards the danger.

  “No!” Tosh roared at them, “Cut those pilots free! Get that fucking plane in the air now!“

  They rushed to obey his commands.

  Running flat out Katja lost one of her shoes and she tried to stop to go back for it.

  “No! Keep moving,” Dennis yelled at her, “We need to get on that plane.”

  Dennis pushed them on and turned and dropped to one knee and killed another creature with the Kalashnikov. He heard a loud animal roar and looked back at the entrance to the subterranean levels and saw Longinus burst out into the afternoon sun. The creature stopped and roared as the bright sunshine hurt his red eyes. Then he shook his head, snorted, saw Dennis and roaring with rage set off at a fast run straight for the journalist.

  Deano and Smithy cut the pilots loose and pushed them to the plane. Creatures were running straight for them and the two SAS men took them out with precise shots. Tosh was running as fast as Von Werner could allow. He had his hand on the German’s neck pushing him on towards the Hercules. Running hard with the two women Dennis was suddenly aware that something was about to flank him. He glanced right and saw it was Longinus. The creature so much bigger and stronger.

  A Bell Huey helicopter banked from the moutains and swung in low. Tosh made it to Deano and snatched the younger man’s headset off his head and held it to his ear and mouth.

  “Base. This is delta echo. Delta echo. Are you receiving?”

  “Delta echo. This is base. Major Cochoran receiving you.”

  “Base there is an inbound helicopter. Is it one of ours. We request immediate evac. Repeat immediate evac.”

  “Delta echo we have you on screen. Inbound chopper is not one of ours. Repeat not one of ours. Helicopter is unfriendly. Treat as hostile.”

  “Fuck!” Tosh let the headset go.

  Dennis saw the Bell Huey coming in to land. It hovered just feet above the ground and Dennis saw the Gau 17a minigun mounted in the doorway. The north Korean Kim Li Choi at the gun.

  “Everyone down,” Dennis yelled pushing Natalie and Katja behind a pallet of cargo before diving behind it himself. He put his arms around the pair of them as they covered their ears with their hands. The Gau sprayed the ground kicking up sand and stones. Where the pallets and crates were hit splinters erupted off them and showered the air. Dennis saw one of the creatures out of the corner of his eye. It stopped near them and was literally cut in half by the deadly fire. Choi stopped firing to allow the rotating barrels to cool. Dennis looked up as the firing stopped. The creature at his feet wasn’t Longinus and he searched for him knowing he couldn’t be far.

  “Peter!” Natalie shouted.

  Dennis turned. Katja was running for the Huey. One of the creatures that was running flat out parrallel to them suddenly changed direction and bounded after Katja. The minigun had cooled sufficiently but Choi now couldn’t fire without the risk of hitting the redhead. He drew a handgun and fired shots at the monster, hitting it in the shoulder, which only angered it and didn’t slow it. Dennis aimed down the sights of his AK-74M and shot the creature in the back of the head. It crashed to the desert floor and was still. The helicopter touched down briefly as Katja got to it and Choi grabbed her hand and pulled her in. She threw herself into a seat and put the lap belt around her waist. As the Huey lifted off again Choi gave Dennis a mocking salute. Katja smiled at him and then the helicopter was banking away and climbing, gaining height and speed.

  ‘Fuck! She’s hot’ Dennis said to himself.

  “Pete! Natalie! Come on!” Hutchinson shouted. He was now on the loading ramp of the Hercules. The ramp was six inches off the ground and the plane was moving slowly and turning. Tosh bundled Von Werner into the back of the plane as Deano and Smithy gave covering fire. Dennis grabbed Natalie’s hand and together they sprinted for the Hercules. There were still a few of Von Werner’s men on the ground shooting at anything that moved. Suddenly Smithy was hit by a stray bullet and went down clutching his throat. Deano called out and ran to his aid as one of the creatures side swiped him knocking him down. As Deano tried to get back to his feet he was swamped by two more of the creatures and he went down under them. Dennis and Natalie jumped onto the ramp of the Hercules that was now gaining speed fast for take off.

  Tosh put his hand on the button to close the back up when Hutchinson said.

  “Captain. Your men.”

  Tosh looked out and saw the creatures that had killed Deano bound away. Smithy was unmoving on the desert floor. The sand soaking up his blood.

  “They’re gone,” Tosh said.

  He smacked the button and the ramp beg
an to close.

  The pilots levelled the Hercules out at 1000ft. Natalie was tending to the deep scratches on Tosh’s head and back of his neck while the SAS Captain kept the handgun trained on the billionaire Count. Inside the Hercules was a pallet of munitions and a Mercedes Benz G class open top 4x4 on skis.

  Von Werner still had the spear of destiny in his hands and had it clutched to his chest lovingly. The shaft had been snapped off and now only a few inches of wood jutted from the spear head.

  The pilot turned around and shouted back into the hold.

  “Sir the Israeli military have scrambled fighter jets. ETA five minutes. Our instructions are to follow them and land and surrender ourselves into custody.”

  “Ignore this!” Von werner said, “Change our heading for Gaza.”

  “No!” Tosh shouted, “Tell them that we are a british red cross mission and will proceed to Shaheed Mwaffaq air base in Jordan where we will land. We have british nationals on board and will seek the help of the Jordanian government,” Tosh turned back to Von Werner, “you no longer give the orders here Count.”

  The pilot relayed the new message.

  “The Israelis are refusing,” he shouted back, “They have re-issued their warning to us. We are to follow them to Tel Nof air force base. Our refusal to follow these instructions will result in military intervention. I think they mean to shoot us out of the sky.”

  “Repeat my message to them,” Tosh shouted. He turned to everyone in the aircraft, “Does anyone have a cell phone?”

  Hutchinson shook his head.

  “His lot took them. Remember,” the American said nodding at Von Werner.

  “I have mine.”

  The German Count took his phone from his trouser pocket. Tosh opened the screen up.

  “No service. That’s just bloody brilliant. Without comms I can’t get help from my unit.”

  Tosh turned his attention back to Von Werner.