Sentinels of Creation: A Power Renewed

by Robert W. Ross

  “You said the other one was too big,” said Kellan smiling, “besides this will be far more effective than your weapons. Bullets don’t kill werewolves, sweetie.”

  Meghan popped the clip out of her Glock with practiced ease, tilting it toward Kellan, “Silver bullets do. Sweetie.”

  He laughed. “Holy crap, Meghan, how many of those rounds do you have?”

  “About a thousand. Look around, Kel, I don’t have really expensive tastes and that disability money has to go somewhere. Silver is a good investment and a hedge against inflation,” she smiled, but then it faded, “I knew those werewolves were real…always knew it. And now I’m gonna kill them—all of them.”

  Kellan put a hand gently on her shoulder. “Listen, Meghan, I came here looking for your help because you are the baddest badass I know and because there are some nasty things after me. Well, I assume they are still after me. I figured having you at my back would do wonders for my survival chances even with all my nifty new abilities. You are the clearest and most focused that I’ve seen you since you got home and if I had any part in that, I’m glad. I just don’t want to see you regress. Afghanistan is a big place and while I agree that odds are these critters are still in Samangan, that’s a lot of area to cover.”

  “I know exactly where they are.”

  “Say what?”

  “Yeah, you know my boys were sent in after an IED killed that Afghani Assemblyman, Samangani. That was in Samangan City. Well, when the whole op went casters-up and those furry bastards had killed my Marines and left me for dead, lying there bleeding out, I heard one of them talk about getting back to the stupa. There’s only one old Buddhist stupa anywhere near Samagan City and I’m betting that’s where they’ll be. The only thing I can’t grok is how I’ll know who’s who if they are not all wolfy and such.”

  Kellan stood for a moment, quietly impressed at his friend’s calm, clear, command of the facts, so different than a mere few hours ago. “Um, yeah, well I can help with that.” He waggled the small engraved sword. “This will let you know if there be monsters. Arg”

  Meghan stared at him flatly. “I thought Sting only glowed around Orcs.”

  Kellan laughed, “Nope, it’s been upgraded to the new, improved, All-Monster glow model. Besides, it’s not always this small either. Watch.” Kellan held his arm out to the side with small sword held loosely and Meghan saw his frown furrow slightly as he stared at the weapon. A scant moment later it seemed to wobble slightly as if it were made of quick silver and then extended to become a gleaming longsword that shimmered with a soft inner green glow that played off intricately engraved words. Meghan leaned in to try and read them, but the script eluded her. Seeing her confusion, Kellan brandished the sword pointed to one side and said, “Take me up,” then turned the sword over, pointed again, “Cast me away.”

  Meghan shook her head slightly trying to take in what she was seeing, “Those words sound familiar, and I know I’ve seen that sword before.”

  “Of course you have,” said Kellan looking immensely pleased with himself, “It’s Excalibur. The sword is just an outward manifestation of my will for it to become—”

  “What?,” Meghan interrupted, “The Excalibur,”

  “Huh, no, don’t be silly. The real Excalibur wouldn’t look nearly this cool; this Excalibur is from the 1981 John Boorman movie of the same name. It’s totally the best Sword and Sorcery movie of all time—trust me Meghan.”

  Meghan’s eyes misted over a bit. “I do trust you Kel. Completely.” And Kellan immediately sobered knowing they were no longer talking about any movie or even the sword as she continued, “You trusted me with this secret of yours. You came and lifted this burden from my soul. You are helping me avenge my boys and you trust me to have your back when we’re done.” She walked around the coffee table and embraced him tightly. “You, Mr. Sentinel, are a good and trusted friend and I’ll always love you for what you did today.”

  Then, she released him, leaned back a little and said, “Now, enough with the mush, rip a hole in space and let’s go fuck up some werewolves.”

  “Don’t let it close yet,” whispered Meghan as she crouched down next to the weather worn stone wall.

  “Huh? Why? This looks easier than it is and it’s the third freaking portal I’ve opened.

  “That’s your own damn fault for Stargating us to the wrong bloody place—times two. Now hush.” Meghan pulled out her phone and held it up to her mouth, speaking softly, “Siri, what time is it in Afghanistan?”

  “Oh for god’s sake, Meghan.” The portal blinked out.

  She held up the little phone triumphantly, “Got it! 5:47 AM here, I thought as much, sky’s lightening.”

  “And why did I need to strain to keep a portal open for that?”

  “Does your roaming plan cover Afghanistani war zones? No? I didn’t think so and since we wasted so much time galavanting…”

  Kellan ground his teeth. “Could you just try not being such a bitch. I get that it’s ‘your thing,’ but do keep in mind that I’m literally tearing a hole in the fabric of creation and, yeah, I screwed it up a couple times. In case you didn’t know it, there aren’t any independent bookstore conventions in Afghanistan so I didn’t have much of a frame of reference for getting us here. In short, STFU.”

  Meghan ignored him as she scanned the immediate area. “This is definitely it. I remember the layout from having done an evac here.”

  From their vantage next to the massive stone stacked wall Kellan looked over the ancient structure. It was roughly rectangular and reminded him a bit of terraced temples in Mexico and Central America although the stupa definitely showed its asian influences. The bottom tier was largely intact while showing signs of both weather and war. Across the side facing them there were four pillars equally spaced while the longer side had six. The pillars seemed more decorative than structural and vaguely resembled the Doric style although the pillar’s top and bottom portions were a bit thicker.

  The second tier of the stupa also had the decorative pillars but each wall had a large arched entrance carved into the center. Finally, the domed portion of the structure had mostly been worn away and collapsed with only the northern face remaining, given the slight impression of a tired Hogwarts’s Sorting hat resting upon the middle tier.

  “Griffindor!” whispered Kellan.

  Meghan just stared at him, “What are you talking about? No, don’t tell me. We’re going to need to cover that open ground to the primary stupa wall then circle around the back where the lower tier entrance is located. From there, I have no idea. Some of these structures have subterranean levels while others just go up from ground level. Given the state of the the dome, my guess is that at least part of the second tier is impassable from the rubble, so, if they are there, I’ll bet we’ll find them on the main level.”

  She sighed, “Which will make getting in undetected a huge pain in the ass.”

  “I think I can help with that. It’s not easy. Give me a minute.”

  Meghan raised a high arched eyebrow questioningly as she saw Kellan’s eyes begin to glow. His brow furrowed with concentration and she saw his form waver like the ghost in every poltergeist movie, then he vanished.”

  “Woah,” she said reaching out to where he had been crouching. As she touched what felt like his shoulder, Meghan saw her hand vanish making her arm seem to end in a stump at the wrist.

  Kellan let out a breath and reappeared, eyes returning to normal.

  “How?” she asked simply.

  “I altered the gravitational affect on those photons which were striking me, causing them to warp, strike, and reflect off objects around me instead.”

  “English?”

  “I bent light around me which creates the effect of you being able to see through me.” Kellan smiled, “Like Harry’s cloak. Griffindor!”

  “You really are a child,” said Meghan as she removed each of her Glock 41s in turn, checked them and returned them to their holsters. Sh
e then confirmed the placement of her extra magazines and finally removed and resheathed both short katana blades that criss-crossed her back.

  “What?” she growled, as Kellan stared at her grinning.

  “I was just thinking you should have worn a green tank top and shorts.”

  “This is serious, Kellan, stop being a dick.”

  “Look, Ms. Croft, I get it. Trust me. This is my freaking life now so if I’m going to remain sane for any length of time, I need to try to keep my defensive humor intact. So, let’s raid the tomb.”

  “Fine, but you are still a dick and it’s not a tomb. Now, make with the wizardry and vanish us.”

  Kellan concentrated and they could see the world warp and shimmer around them. “I think that does it.”

  “You think?”

  “Well, how can I test if we’re invisible. It’s not like I have a toggle switch. It feels right.”

  “Wonderful. Ok, let’s go.” Meghan crouched starting to run towards the stupa only to have Kellan grab the leather used to lash the swords to her back.”

  “Stop,” he whispered. “I can only make us both invisible if you stay really close. Don’t go running off. I know it feels like we’re horribly exposed, but you need to slowly walk with me.”

  The two then continued to head towards the closest wall of the stupa, Meghan moving slowing at a crouch.

  “This is ridiculous,” she said softly, “the hair is standing up on my neck and I’m waiting to be jumped any second.”

  “Why are you crouching?”

  “Because it makes me feel better. Now shut up and—“

  Kellan bumped into her back, kicking up several rocks, as Meghan stopped pointing upward. Above them she saw two men on the second tier apparently talking with one another, both whom turned suddenly at the sound from below. Two bright blue beams of LED light illuminated the ground around Meghan and Kellan, then swept directly through their position. Kellan leaned in and spoke directly in her ear, “I guess we really are invisible.”

  He felt her stiffen and then mouth something which was hard to see from his angle but was able to piece it together. “I’m pretty sure that’s anatomically impossible and I’m definitely sure it wouldn’t be enjoyable. Now move. They can’t see us and I can’t keep us hidden much longer—changing gravity here.”

  The two reached the wall and Kellan released the power as they both saw the world shimmer back into focus. The lights from above continued to waft back and forth for a minute or two and then went off leaving Kellan and Meghan pressed against the wall in the predawn darkness.

  “Let’s—” began Kellan

  “Shhh, I hear something,” she said reaching back as if to press Kellan further into the wall.

  Moments later two figures resolved themselves from the gloom.

  “That’s two of them,” Kellan whispered into her ear.

  “How can you tell? They just look like men.”

  Kellan reached down and took Meghan’s hand in his and, as he did so, her image of the men changed. About them both glowed a faint red aura that seemed to pulse as they walked.

  “Werewolf aura?” she asked incredulously

  He shook his head, “Just unnatural and dark energy, not specific. I got the one on the right.”

  She nodded and silently removed the Glock from her right hip and sighted along it’s length, “You first, I’ll take lefty when yours goes down.”

  Kellan had already poured a palmful of water from his canteen and felt his body temperature rise as he drew the ambient heat from the water into himself. Within seconds, four dangerously pointed icicles rotated silently above his closed fist. With a final burst of will, Kellan flicked open his palm and the frozen projectiles streaked towards the right figure striking him three times in the chest and once in the forehead. As the man started to crumple, Kellan heard a short puff from his left as Meghan squeezed the trigger of her silenced Glock 41, and Kellan saw the left man’s head snap back as he, too, collapsed to the ground.

  “Two down—unknown amount to go,” Meghan said grimly then drew her hand across Kellan’s moist brow and wiped the sweat on her pants. “Don’t do that. What if there were more of them? Put the heat somewhere else, stupid.”

  Kellan stared at her, shaking his head slightly, uncomprehendingly.

  “Well, you could have just shunted the heat into the guy you were about to perforate; it’s not like he would have known why he suddenly had a low grade fever. Just don’t be dumb, ok? That was dumb.”

  Kellan sighed, knowing she was right and hating it.

  The two continued around the side of the stupa without incident and saw the large steps that lead into the dark gaping maw of an entrance.

  “Well, that certainly looks inviting,” Kellan said softly.

  “Yeah, sure does, can you invis us up just long enough to get inside and find some cover? I’ve no idea what that interior looks like from here.”

  Kellan nodded, “Ready.”

  “Really, you are getting good at that.”

  “Fast learner, remember things. Let’s go; stay very close.” With that Kellan moved quickly up the large stone stairs and into the dark interior, turning immediately to his left seeking out a darkened corner near the entrance where he crouched down.

  “We’re visible again.” Kellan said.

  “Ok, I can see some light up above, coming down from those two stairwells.” She replied.

  “Yeah, I see it. Look over there,” Kellan said, pointing, “a stairwell going down as well.”

  “Damn…this would be one that goes subterranean. No telling how many levels there might be. We should split up; I’ll take the upstairs, you the down.”

  Kellan grabbed her arm, “Are you completely insane?” he hissed, “that is the plot to every bad ending of every bad war movie. We are not splitting up. We’ll both go upstairs first.”

  Meghan just nodded as the two moved quietly to the leftmost stairs and started up, trying to navigate the worn and broken stone stairs. They were about halfway up when Kellan suddenly stopped and turned to Meghan, “Get ready, they’ve found us. Run with me!”

  He started bolting up the stairs two at a time, Meghan keeping pace. Since stealth was clearly no longer an issue she yelled after him, “How did they find us?”

  Kellan called back over his shoulder, “Smell. I should have thought about that; these assholes have a heightened sense of smell.”

  They had just crested the top of the landing with Meghan only two steps behind Kellan when she saw the first werewolf resolve from the darkness in midleap. It didn’t really look like any werewolf she had ever seen in movies or read about. The creature stood mostly erect and, while certainly substantially muscled, still wore whatever clothing it had been wearing prior to its transformation. It’s arms clearly looked longer than that of a normal person and it’s fingers ended in what appeared to be long, sharp talons—black as onyx. Its face, from nose to forehead, seemed mostly normal but its mouth was inhumanly large with sharp, extremely lupine teeth showing prominently and it howled at her, clearly enraged. Most disconcerting were its eyes, which while wild with anger, were also clearly human, showing no signs of the creature’s bestial nature. She instinctively reached for her katana knowing there would not be the time or the room to use her Glock. Meghan felt a powerful whoosh of wind. The werewolf before her was pushed out to the side and into the air above the main chamber, scrambling for purchase it could not find. Seconds later the entire chamber was illuminated as a white hot ball of fire engulfed the creature as it fell to the floor below.

  Meghan didn’t take time to appreciate her reprieve. She launched herself over the last few steps and fell in next to Kellan who stood with a glowing blue sword in one hand while dozens of frozen projectiles rotated above the other.

  “I found a good place to put the heat,” he said with a grin.

  Meghan laughed despite herself and shook her head, filling both hands with the comforting heft of her Glock 41s.
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  They waited, tensing at every sound, when a voice called from the darkness. Kellan responded in a language that, to Meghan’s ear, sounded vaguely like Farsi.

  “So, they say they are going to kill us and eat our hearts. I told them to fuck off.”

  “You speak Farsi now?”

  “Dari actually. At least I assume it’s Dari, that’s the predominant language in this region, but, yeah, I guess I do.” More words came out from the darkness and Megan touched two fingers to Kellan’s bare wrist, causing the words to suddenly resolve into a thickly accented English “…and let you watch while we do that to her.”

  Meghan concentrated, keeping her finger in contact with Kellan’s wrist; “You killed my Marines, you bastards! Now I’m going to butcher every last one of you.”

  She heard a staccato of confusing chatter, but was able to make out two words clearly. “English. Americans.”

  “I guess they couldn’t understand me?” Meghan asked.

  “No, you called out in English. I don’t think you can appropriate my language ability actively, just passively, which, I suppose makes sense since were it otherwise you could probably—”

  “Forget it. Focus Kellan—lecture later.”

  A phalanx of at least six werewolves converged on them. Meghan let go of Kellan’s wrist and unholstered her second Glock. One of the creatures said something, its language guttural. “They are making fun of your guns, Meg; they probably assume—”

  “Assume this, fuckers!” She squeezed off five perfectly spaced rounds, each followed by the thud of a werewolf falling dead to the ground. The last one skittered to the side and leaped back into the darkness with a shriek. “What did it say?”

  Kellan looked down at Meghan. “Nothing much—just one word,” he grinned, “Silver! So I’m thinking they have more respect for your guns about now.”

  “Not that it’s going to do them any good,” she growled, advancing across the landing.

  Kellan threw his swirling ice projectiles ahead of her advance, but only heard them chatter harmlessly against a distant stone wall. Grumbling, he pointed his small sword into the darkness and watched it glow more brightly cutting into the gloom.