The Shadow Above The Flames

by Daniel Swenson

  "Please forgive me for showing you this. I know you've hoped that Sergeant McAvoy was possibly still alive out there and maybe he is. Unfortunately, I don't believe anyone could have survived that explosion. However, Sergeant McAvoy didn't die in vain. He died protecting the men under his command and faced down insurmountable odds. But, most importantly, because of him and some crazy whim of mine, we now know that we can injure that thing.

  “After reviewing your supply and equipment order, I noticed that McAvoy requested two pounds of Semtex and a detonator. I'm assuming it was the Semtex that he used to injure the Beast. Is that correct?"

  Jacobson nodded.

  Henry stood and paced. "After I saw this video feed, I knew Union Forest had covered up the fact that they knew the Beast was still on the island, so I formulated a plan and requested high explosive grenade launchers.

  I know we've all seen the news footage of this thing swatting away tanks and knocking down missiles and fighter jets like they were toys. However, I believe something’s changed. I don't know what, or why. But clearly something has made it more vulnerable. And whatever it is, I believe we have a window of opportunity. So if that thing rises up out of its hole, we’ll rain hell down upon it."

  The next morning all four men got an early start to prepare for the journey into Ardmore. Rick and Henry sorted through the weapons that they would need to defend themselves and several other items Lenny said he'd need to retrieve the data core. When that was done, Jacobson and Henry took the time to secure the equipment to the all-terrain vehicle in case another series of quakes flared up. They left everything else including food and camping supplies behind.

  As the sun rose over the horizon, Henry called for everyone to move out. Rick, Jacobson, and Lenny jumped inside the all-terrain vehicle. Henry climbed in after, making a quick inspection of the tires before switching on the engine. The vehicle purred to life, Henry punched the accelerator and they cruised down Glenshane Road towards Ardmore. Rick gripped his gun tightly, trying to keep his nerves at bay. He turned and noticed that Jacobson was white knuckling his gun as well.

  "Hey, how are you doing over there?" Rick asked.

  "As best as someone who knows they’re going to hunt for treasure near a dragon's lair can be."

  Rick laughed and relaxed a bit. "If we stick to the plan, I'm sure we'll be okay."

  "I certainly hope so."

  Rick watched as some unknown birds fluttered back and forth in the air above the trees with not a care in the world, whereas the dying trees creaked as the wind forced them to sway. Rick watched the brown and gray leaves dance in the wind before lazily making their way to the ground.

  This very well could be my last day, Rick thought. I wonder if Henry is thinking the same thing, or is he confident that today won’t be his last?

  Rick continued to watch the birds that followed them through the countryside, which zipped past.

  I have to admit, in all the missions I've ever gone on, I've never once worried about not coming back or that I'd never see tomorrow. Now with the possibility of imminent death looming before me, I can't shake this feeling that today could be my last, and we're heading into a death trap.

  "Hey, are you okay?" Henry asked Rick.

  "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just been a long week."

  "I'll second that!" Jacobson said.

  "Take a left here." Lenny instructed.

  Henry turned off of Glenshane Road and on to Ardmore Road. As they crossed the bridge, which stretched over the Faughan River, Henry felt the knot in the pit of his gut suddenly twist, warning him of something. He slammed on the brakes bringing the vehicle to a screeching halt. He scanned the area before them and behind them. When he saw nothing, he asked Jacobson to scan the perimeter with the binoculars and see if he could find anything out of the ordinary. Something wasn't right, and he could sense it. For years, he had trusted this feeling when it came to him. It had served him well on too many occasions.

  "Henry what is it?" Rick asked.

  "I don't know? That feeling I get in the pit of my stomach hit me as we crossed the bridge. But I can’t see anything. Jacobson, do you see anything?"

  "I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

  "Lenny, can you turn on the scanner? Also, make sure it’s set to scan out two hundred meters in every direction so we're not caught off guard."

  Henry let off the brake and got the vehicle rolling again. "Since we left the farm, I've had this knot in my stomach and a crazy feeling that we're being followed. Please keep your eyes peeled for anything."

  At this, Rick sat up a little straighter and scanned the perimeter. Jacobson raised an eyebrow questioningly even though he remembered what Rick had told him about Henry’s gut feelings. Rick mouthed the words, his gut feelings are never wrong. Jacobson then went about scanning the countryside.

  What remained of the road after the bridge became increasingly difficult to traverse as they neared the epicenter of the quakes. The quakes had split roads asunder and rattled many of the trees so violently that their trunks had snapped and collapsed to the ground. Several times along the way, the men had to climb out of the vehicle and move aside fallen trees.

  Each time they stopped, Henry scanned the horizon because the knots in his stomach twisted and turned, tightening their grip. His uneasiness affected Rick and the others. Rick knew that Henry could be tense at times when they went into enemy territory, but he had never seen Henry this bad before.

  Rick walked over to where Henry and Jacobson were clearing a large oak tree from the road.

  He singled out Henry. "What's going on? I've never seen you this tense before. I don't see any dark clouds like we saw before the Beast attacked us. So what gives?"

  Henry went back to lifting and pushing the tree off to the side of the road with Jacobson's help.

  "I don't know, but my stomach feels like it's full of rattlesnakes that are twisting and coiling up like something bad is coming."

  Rick chuckled, quiet enough that only he and Henry could hear.

  "You're kidding right? We are driving to Ardmore, the home of a giant dragon that would love nothing more than to melt the flesh from our bones, and you think your gut feeling is about something else. Are you serious? I've never had reason to discount your gut feeling before, but could you be wrong about this one?"

  Henry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't honestly know. I just feel like something’s been watching and following us since we left the farm. And like you said, we haven't seen any signs that the Beast has crawled out of its hiding place. So it has to be something else."

  The tree dropped with a resounding thud. It rolled off the side of the road and crashed into another pair of broken trees. Several birds scattered and flew off towards the western horizon. Henry thanked Jacobson for his help and headed back to the vehicle. The three of them climbed in and got themselves situated.

  Once they were in, Lenny gave Henry his report from the scanner. "Nothing's come up while you were out there moving that tree."

  Jacobson chimed in. "I've scanned the entire perimeter before and after we moved the tree, and I didn’t see anything moving out there either."

  Henry gripped the steering wheel tightly in frustration. "I know you guys probably think I'm crazy, but I've always trusted my gut, and it's never steered me wrong. The one time I didn't listen to it . . ."

  Henry went silent and tightened his grip on the wheel. Rick leaned forward and placed his hand on Henry’s shoulder.

  "It's okay; that wasn't your fault. Grandpa's death wasn't your fault. He was old and had lived a full life."

  Henry let out a long haggard breath as he fought back the tears. "If he hadn't left his pills, he still might be . . . I had a feeling that day that I should grab them when I saw them on the counter. But I was too excited to go finishing. Then when he collapsed, and I pushed you to go get help . . ."

  "The fire was an accident. You made a choice in the moment, and you chose me."

  Rick felt
foolish for silently questioning his brother. How many times had Henry's gut feeling saved him and several hundred other men and women back when he was in the service? Rick tightened his grip on Henry's shoulder.

  "I know you've always let your gut guide you. Grandpa used to call it your sixth sense. I'm sorry for doubting you. But we're all a little on edge because we know what's waiting for us a few clicks down the road. As crazy as its sounds, it's easier to deal with the fear of the Beast than whatever might be lurking out there."

  "I'm sorry too," Lenny said. "We'll continue to keep an eye on the horizon and make sure we aren't caught with our pants down."

  Henry's shoulder relaxed a bit. He nodded as he shifted the vehicle into gear and rambled down what was left of the broken road.

  The fissures in the ground glowed a harsh reddish orange as the magma slowly pushed its way up and out of the fissure. The magma hissed as it hit the open air, refusing to cool as the earth pushed it onto the cavern floor. The Beast lay there watching the spectacle through its one good eye. Its left eye was severely damaged and could only see distorted shapes. A thick mucus-like scab covered most of the Beast’s face. It itched horribly, and all the Beast wanted to do was claw at it. However, it knew that if it did, most of the pain would return with a fiery vengeance, as it had done before.

  So, the irritated beast lay in its home filled with bones and treasures which it had collected over its long life, and scanned the cavern, remembering the days when it had acquired certain items and had crushed or burned the life out of the owner of the bones that rested upon the ground.

  Time slipped back as it stared at a particularly large set of bones. The bones had belonged to one of the large reptiles that had walked the land millennia ago. Those nasty reptiles had been particularly troublesome to the Beast. Back then, it had been just a small wyrmling, and many times, it had to fly off in defeat or risk losing its life to one of the larger reptiles.

  However, those creatures had not possessed the ability to tap into the powers of the ley lines, which raged with torrents of power back then. In those days, the Beast and many of its kind thrived and grew strong. They learned to tap into the vast energies that swirled throughout the planet and around all living creatures.

  As its kind grew in strength, they learned how to harness and manipulate these energies, giving them the advantage they needed to hunt the other reptiles for food and occasionally sport. It wasn't long before they wiped out the other remaining large reptilian species. As they purged the land of the reptiles, the Beast and it's kind found that their food source became sparse. Instead of conserving their attacks on the other reptiles, the beasts fought one another over what little food they could find.

  Then one fateful day, a massive orb of molten rock and fire came crashing down from the sky, threatening to obliterate every living thing on the planet. The serpents tapped into their power and burrowed themselves miles beneath the surface of the earth and went into hibernation.

  The great Beast smirked as it replayed those ancient days over and over in its mind. Many times over the past several days, it had tapped into the small trickle of energy to heal itself. Each time, it healed a small portion of its face or damaged eye. And each time, the ground weakened and split, creating new fissures as the earth gave all of its strength to the Beast. Every time it tapped into the energies of the ley lines, the Beast became frustrated and angry because the energies quickly faded. Portions of the vast cavern had crumbled to dust and collapsed over the last few days as the Beast leeched the strength right out of the rocks.

  The Beast didn't care about the stones of this old place; it could always find another home. The currents of air swirled about in the cavern teasing the Beast with smells of food, water, dust, ash, and death.

  Oh, how it wanted to fly out of the cavern, soar among the clouds, swoop down upon some unsuspecting prey, and bask in its fear. It always felt an intoxicating rush when it dove out of the clouds towards its prey, catching sight of the fear in its eyes. It would breathe in the smell of fear that permeated the air all around it. Those were the moments the Beast lived for: fear and death mixed into one single moment.

  The Beast laid its head down to rest, knowing it would dream wonderful dreams of death and destruction. Something shifted in the air, which brought in a series of new scents. These scents brushed along the insides of its nostrils like a lover’s caress; gentle, but piercing as though someone thrust a knife deep into its soft innards. The Beast’s eye flew open, it gnashed its teeth in anger, and stifled a low feral growl that gurgled from its throat.

  Humans! How dare they intrude upon my home, it thought. They were up there on the surface. He could smell their musky, metallic scent.

  Those pathetic humans tricked me! How could I have missed the smell of these others—unless the first one was a scout?

  None of it mattered now because they had come to its home, its domain where it ruled!

  The Beast smiled. These humans have traveled far to meet their doom.

  The Beast would give the miserable vermin hope and then at the last moment it would rise up out of its hole and crush the life out of them.

  Yes! It will be so glorious to see the hope fade from their eyes. Oh, how delectable all those pheromones will be—the multitude of smells that will swirl around them in the brief moment when their feeble little minds register their doom. That will be such a wonderful delight.

  The large serpent shivered in ecstasy.

  I will let them have hope, let them get near the entrance of my home, and, when the moment is right, I will make them feel true terror!

  The wolves ran swiftly on their padded feet following the scent of the humans across the countryside. They crossed the same river and ran down the same stone path as the humans. Broken stone with fallen trees and metal creatures covered the path before them.

  Large cracks rent the land. Trees and plants were dead; nothing in this territory lived. The large alpha male dodged passed these items carefully while keeping its senses attuned to everything around it. It had brought the strongest hunters from its pack in search of these creatures.

  When they arrived at the farmhouse, carefully stalking in towards the half-fallen wooden structure, they discovered that the humans were already gone. The alpha barked and growled in frustration.

  How have I lost them again? The alpha thought. They were here just the night before.

  The alpha barked and growled, ordering the others to find their scent and determine where their prey had gone.

  As frustrated as the alpha male was, the thrill of this hunt tingled along the scruff of its neck. It had been a long time since the large male had felt such a challenge. It could still smell the scent of the humans that had killed its mate. With each breath it took, it smelled their musky scents. The pack would find them, and then they would snuff the life out of them as they had its mate.

  The alpha heard a yip of delight from one of its hunters and rushed out of the structure. It found one of the female hunters, which was only several winters in age and had a long silver streak running down her back, spinning in a circle yipping. She lowered her head as the alpha approached and then slowly raised it, yipping and barking that she had found the trail.

  The large alpha barked loudly, and all the wolves rushed off through the dried fields and dying trees to follow the trail. The alpha's tongue hung out of its mouth as it ran. All the muscles in its body exerted themselves to run on to catch up with these humans. The pack will feast well tonight, it thought as it imagined finding the unsuspecting humans out in the open, and not hiding behind stones.

  Very soon, the human that had killed my mate will find its end, and that end will be when I bare down upon it to crush the life out of it. As the pleasant thought rushed through the wolf’s brain, it howled in delight, and the others soon joined in.

  The sun crested the hills behind them as they ran on towards their prey.

  Ardmore had never been a large village by any standards, but
now what remained was an eerie reminder of what had once been. Many of the businesses and homes had become nothing more than a tumbled down mess. The lush plant life that once grew here was almost nonexistent with the exception of a few trees and plants that grew near the River Faughan. Henry marveled at how these plants continued to thrive. It baffled him to see these plants still growing in this barren wasteland when everything else in the village had died long ago.

  "Why do you think those trees along the river appear to be strong and healthy?" Rick asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

  "I'm not sure," Henry said. "However, it appears that even they didn't escape the fierce quakes. Several of them have broken limbs or cracked trunks."

  As they turned down Ballybogie Road, a dry gust of wind blew through the small maze of broken homes. When the wrath of the quake tore through the countryside, it weakened or destroyed many of the buildings. Most of the buildings they passed were nothing more than a pile of rubble or were dangerously close to collapsing.

  Lenny let out a long slow whistle as they drove through the deserted town.

  Henry brought the all-terrain vehicle to a stop before an older home on the corner of Ballybogie Road and the Village Green. The home stood as a monument of resistance against the devastation of the town.

  "Well let’s see if she'll do the job," Jacobson said.

  Rick and Jacobson climbed out of the back seat and did a recon of the home.

  "Any signs of trouble?" Henry asked Lenny.

  "Nothings appeared on the scanner. Are you sure there's something out there?"