“He trespassed into Serpen territory.”
Tynan’s back stiffened. “Trespass? No. He told me how you welcomed him and his army into your palace and invited them to a grand feast. It was there he fell madly in love with you. He told me that story more times than I ever cared to hear it.”
Moria’s expression turned to stone. “We Serpen do not suffer fools who enter into our land. It’s that simple.”
Tynan clenched his fists until his arms and shoulders visibly shook. “You meted out this vengeance of yours over a course of seventeen years for a simple matter of trespass? It’s not like he invaded your land, stormed your palace and killed every last one of you. All he did was take a shortcut home.”
“How were we to know that was his intention?” Moria asked.
“You found out at the feast.”
Disappointment wrinkled her forehead. “You always did have too much of your father’s weakness in you.”
“Thankfully, yes,” Tynan agreed. He looked her over with growing anger. “Leave, before I tell my soldiers to shoot every last arrow they have into you.”
Moria’s expression softened. “One day, you’ll see I had to make you hate me to undo this one last injustice.” She gestured to Finn. “Release him from his shackles and I’ll take my leave with him.”
Tynan appeared to be beyond words and nodded to the guards.
Finn tensed against them as they unlocked his legs and then his wrists. As soon as his hands were free, he pulled the gag out of his mouth. “You’re barkers if you think I’m leaving with this snake.” He coughed, choking on the dryness in his throat.
“I said I’d take you, but who says you’re going anywhere with me?” Moria’s sly smile widened into a serpent’s mouth.
Before Finn could say anything, her neck stretched impossibly long, horns thrust from her head and smooth skin hardened into ivory scales as her fragile form violently gave way to a massive beast. Moria rose above him then lunged without warning. The last thing Finn saw before everything went black was the dragon’s maw and its deadly fangs snapping down upon him.
31
What’s The Alternative To Going Boom?
THE SANCTUARY WAS DEAD quiet when Fate and Jessie flew through the breaching door. The grinding sound of metal on metal as the iris closed behind them cut through the silence like a blaring horn. Brune had arrived well before them and had already shed her pack and armor. She stood next to Farouk’s cage, leaning over the big table studying a map and conversing in low tones.
Anger boiled in Fate’s chest. Brune didn’t seem to care at all that Lincoln was dead.
“Do the others know about Lincoln?” Fate unbuckled the straps and set her aeronaut pack on the floor.
Farouk looked up from the map. “I told them.”
Fate thought about Lincoln’s brothers. They were probably wondering where he’d disappeared to by now. Her heart sank. They had no idea he was gone forever. They should be told. But how would she even begin to explain how Lincoln had died? She barely believed it herself. “Shouldn’t we be…doing something? Like holding a memorial?”
Brune kept her eyes on the map. “No, I’m busy debriefing. As you should be. We need both of you on point, especially since we just shrunk to a team of three.”
Fate stormed over to the table. “Really? Lincoln liked you, something that’s in short supply where you’re concerned. And now you’re just going to act like nothing happened?”
Brune stiffened then pushed away from the table to face Fate. “I am doing something. I’m protecting the Keep’s welfare by figuring out what we need to do next.”
“Lives are more important than all this.” Fate waved her arms at their surroundings.
“Yeah,” Jessie joined in. “People aren’t just getting hurt here, they’re dying. I say we take off, nuke the Keep from the other end of the portal. It’s the only way to be sure.” She turned to Fate and bumped fists with her.
“Aye-firmative.” Fate smiled grimly at the chance to apply a few favorite movie quotes to a real situation. But she felt instantly terrible and guilt shoved all playfulness aside.
Farouk turned around, pressing his face against the bars of his cage. “Your ignorwarness astounds me.” His eyes narrowed on Fate with more meaning than he was saying.
She knew he was referring to the Golandon history he’d shared with her. The Keep was a priceless treasure that must be protected at all costs. Not to mention, the oath she’d taken would never allow her to destroy the Keep, regardless of how much she wanted to be free of it. She sighed in defeat. “Fine. What do we need to do next?”
“I have your father and his team explorating this latest unflavorable development and will know more soon.” Farouk moved to the other side of his cage. Using his pointer stick, he tapped on the map laying on the table’s surface and triggered a 3D projection of one half of the Keep.
“Here’s what we know so far,” he continued. “While you were busy fleeing from the dragon, our worst fears became a reality. The scavenger ate through a copper pyramid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Here, in Quadrant 537. The scarab neck collar inside the vault is lost somewhere in the rubble. Underlying gears were destructalized and the entire quadrant has ground to a halt. Maintenance bots are making repairs, but the scavenger has gone into hiding below the subsurface, where the Keep is most vulnerable.”
“Is this normal for a scav?” Reluctance showed in Jessie’s eyes as she joined them at the table.
Farouk’s ears drooped slightly. “No, this scavenger is unlike any before it. When it was being attacked, its motivcentive was to create a distraction by animating a statue. We’ve never seen this ability, or this level of smartelligence.”
Fate rested her elbows on the table. “It must’ve munched on some sort of smart iron earlier on. Was there anything in that quadrant that could drastically bump its IQ?”
Farouk nodded. “Diagnostifications registered the anvil of the god Hephaestus is missing. Once we have the research–”
“Have it right here.” Eustace hurried into the sanctuary with a stack of big books in his arms. His hair was mussed and his shirt was rumpled. Fate could tell he hadn’t slept since their argument, and now with Lincoln’s sudden death, she knew he was doubly worried about her and Jessie.
Steve and Darcy trailed in behind him. Darcy looked more miserable than usual. Her mascara was smeared from crying. She was plainly reeling from Lincoln’s tragedy, especially since Mason had nearly met the same fate. Steve had lost the bounce in his step and there was a droop in his posture as he walked in.
Gerdie strolled in after them, headed for her stool and stepped onto it. “It’s not lookin’ good.” She cast Fate a grim expression, suggesting she wasn’t just talking about the scavenger.
Fate leaned close to Gerdie. “Did you find out what happens to my proxy if I bite the dust?” she whispered.
Gerdie nodded. “There’s no gettin’ around it. Brune has every reason to make sure you die once she’s the proxy. It’s the only way she’ll become the official Keep Guardian again.”
Fate’s hopes sank. What was she supposed to do now? Time was running out. She needed to somehow free herself from her position and get through the portal to Oldwilde before it moved underground for the next hundred years.
Eustace placed the books on the table with a loud thump, jerking her attention back to the matter at hand. He opened one of them to a drawing of a giant rising from a fiery volcano, a hammer in one hand and molten lava in the other. “Hephaestus was the god of fire and metalwork. He served as blacksmith to the gods by making weapons and fashioning automatons for–”
“Automatons?” Jessie asked. Then her eyes widened, like a light turned on in her head. “Oh, you mean like that mechanical owl from Clash of the Titans, right?”
“There was no mechanical owl in that movie,” Steve interjected before Eustace could answer.
Darcy let out a weary sigh. “She’s talking about the 1980’s
version. And you call yourself an aficionado of all things fantasy.”
“Yes, well, now that we have that important matter settled,” Eustace said with veiled impatience. “Might I continue?”
Steve glanced down sheepishly. “Sure.”
“Thank you.” Eustace cleared his throat. “Hephaestus, unlike the other gods, was intimately connected to Earth’s wealth of minerals. He understood that iron is the life force of the planet. As well, blood smells of iron, so Hephaestus forged his anvil using his own blood and imbued the iron with his vast knowledge of all things metallurgical.”
“Does that mean we’re dealing with a scavenger that thinks it’s now the god of fire?” Fate asked.
Withdrawing his handkerchief from his pocket, Eustace removed his glasses and cleaned them. “I believe that very well may be the case. This would explain why the scavenger now has the mystical prowess of Hephaestus to place enchantments on inanimate objects. Of greater concern, is that it has the power to create sentient entities out of molten metal which will follow its commands, such as the automaton known as Talos.” He replaced his spectacles, while avoiding Fate’s gaze.
Her heart sank. He was miserable with worry and doing a horrible job hiding it.
“FYI,” Steve interjected, “Talos is the bronze giant dude from Jason and the Argonauts, circa 1963.” He pointed a heated gaze at Darcy, who at that particular moment didn’t appear to care.
“Yes, and we could very well find ourselves facing hundreds of those bronze ‘dudes’,” Eustace said, his expression carefully tolerant.
“Do we have any secret weapons in mind?” Fate asked, attempting to insert a slightly more upbeat attitude to counter his obvious tension. “I don’t suppose we could pull the Eye of Balor out for this one and be done with it?”
Her father attempted a smile, but fear showed near the edge of his eyes and ruined the effort. “Ah, well, that’s Darcy’s department. She’s well versed in Greek mythology and she knew exactly where to look for the solution. Though I fear the retrieval of said item appears every bit as dangerous as facing the scavenger.” He gave Darcy a disapproving frown.
All heads turned toward Darcy. She shrugged. “Hey, I’m just the messenger.”
Brune rubbed her temples. “Spit it out. We don’t have all day. What’s the weapon and where is it?”
“If Eustace’s theory is right, and the scavenger has taken on the godlike qualities of Hephaestus, that means it’s every bit as indestructible as an Olympian god.” Darcy paused to let that sink in.
“Hold on,” Brune said. “Don’t you think we’re giving this scav too much credit? They’re nothing more than walking scrap heaps. This isn’t some immortal god we’re facing. We pumped it full of bullets packed with deducting fluid and it worked. We disintegrated nearly half of it.”
Darcy didn’t look convinced. “Maybe, but this ‘scav’ has the blood of an Olympian charging up its parts. You might’ve done some damage, but I’m guessing the regenerative powers alone won’t allow death. The way I see it, there’s only one way to bring this thing down. You’re going to have to disperse its physical molecules to the point where it can’t even begin to reassemble itself, and the only thing I know that’ll do that is a nuclear bomb. But since we’d go boom with it, that’s out.”
Brune glared at her but remained quiet.
“What’s the alternative to going boom?” Fate asked.
Darcy looked at her. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Uh, yeah.” Fate frowned.
“Well, the gods’ weaknesses have only ever come from their own creations. As I’m sure you know, they created the Gorgons, which were the undoing of Atlas and–”
“The Kraken,” Steve added in a hurry.
Darcy shook her head. “If you believe the movie. It was actually the sea monster, Cetus, that Perseus turned to stone by using Medusa’s head.”
Steve swore under his breath.
Jessie bumped her shoulder into Fate’s. “Is this for real? We’re supposed to rehash that old story?”
“Yes and no,” Darcy answered. “Medusa’s dead and her head was delivered to Olympus, so that weapon’s currently unavailable. But her two sisters are still alive and slithering.”
“Here in the Keep?” Fate asked, horrified by the thought.
“No, they’re holed up in their cave on the islands of Gorgades.” Darcy turned to Farouk. “Hopefully, we can access the lair through one of the portals?”
Farouk tapped the buttons of his control panel. After a few beeps, he looked up from the screen. “There’s one in Quadrant 106.”
“There you go.” Darcy patted the table’s surface. “Done.”
Fate leaned her weight against the table, her head swirling with overwhelm as an awful foreboding dampened her spirits even further. There was never going to be an end to this. She’d never be free of the Keep. “For you maybe,” she muttered under her breath. “For me, it’s just the beginning.”
32
Not The Monster You Think I Am
FATE STARED AT THE vault’s stone archway with Medusa’s hideous head of serpents carved into its ornate design. “So what happens when we enter the vault? Do we get instantly sucked through some nauseating wormhole and belly flop in front of the Gorgons’s feet? Assuming they have feet.”
Brune rubbed the back of her neck. “Hard to say. Every portal’s different.”
“God, is there anything predictable in this place?”
“Unpredictability is about the only thing you can predict around here.”
“Terrific.” Fate glanced over her shoulder, resisting the urge to radio Jessie and have her come with them. She hated being thrown together with Brune alone. Why had Farouk insisted on sending only the two of them to retrieve the Gorgon’s head? Was he hoping they’d bond on the mission? Because that was never going to happen.
Brune removed her aeronaut pack and adjusted her gear. “Something on your mind?”
“To be honest, I don’t think we’ve got enough back up.”
“I know I don’t.”
“Right. Wait. What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’m not back up for you, but you are for me?”
“Pretty much. I’d take your friend Jessie over you any day.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“She’s not a guardian.”
“Neither are you.”
“But I used to be.”
“So that’s the price of admission around here?”
“You should know that. Stop being lazy. Focus on proper questions and you’ll get the download.” Equal measures of disappointment and arrogance played across Brune’s features. “The vaults are only configured to open for guardians. Unless of course, you happen to be out here during twilight when all portals open automatically. But I wouldn’t recommend it. The levels of magic released during the gloaming will kill you.”
“Right.” Fate focused on calling the guardian rules to the forefront of her mind. “Rule number one: Never remain inside the Keep during twilight when the gateways unlock.” Feeling smug all of a sudden, she crossed her arms and looked Brune over. “Wait, is that how you got zombified? Gerdie said the Orb was the only thing keeping you alive when you were all shriveled and stinky.”
Brune’s expression darkened. “Let it go already. I made an honest mistake. I thought I could terminate the scavenger and be out in plenty of time before twilight.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Fate checked her watch. “Hold on, twilight’s only six hours from now. Cutting it kind of close aren’t we?”
“The time difference works in our favor. For every hour that passes here, it’s a month there.”
“Well, that’s…convenient.” Fate smiled. Time was finally on her side for once. She could go on this gruesome mission without worrying about missing her only opportunity to enter the portal to Oldwilde. Plus, there’d be time to straighten out her affairs before–
“There’s something off about you.” Brune
stared at Fate, studying her like some oddity. “I’ve been trying to figure it out since you first came back. It’s obvious you’re not happy with your new position, but there’s more to it than that. It’s like you’re not completely here. You’re always distracted. Thinking of something else. Or should I say someone else?”
Fate grew rigid under Brune’s probing stare.
“Could it be that handsome young buck I conjured out of thin air when I summoned you to the bookstore?”
“You made him?” A sickening knot formed in Fate’s stomach. Gerdie had suspected Brune was the ultimate source of Finn’s origin, but hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth made it much worse to accept.
“Yes and no. I merely used the Eyes of Eros spell to summon you, but it was your heart’s deepest desire combined with the creative forces of the Orb, which produced what I’m guessing was the boy of your dreams.”
Fate clenched her fists. What was Brune fishing for?
“So where is he?” Brune made a point of looking around. “Why didn’t he return with you? Did the Book of Fables get the best of him?” She mocked a sad face. “Did your paper boyfriend die in there?”
“He’s not paper! He’s real!”
“Are you sure about that?”
Fate’s heart thudded out of control.
“He’s a product of the Orb. Without the Rod being part of his initial creation, there’s a lot that could go sideways.”
All the memories of Finn’s struggle with the darkness he’d been possessed by flooded in. How many times had Fate wondered if there was something much deeper wrong with him? Something on a more fundamental level.
Brune registered the fear in Fate’s eyes. “Oh, so the golden boy wasn’t so golden after all.”
“No, we ran into some trouble. He’s fine now.”
Brune looked doubtful. “For the moment maybe, but will he stay that way? I don’t know, I think now that you’ve got both the Rod and the Orb together, you should probably bring him here so you can use them to make sure he stays the way you like him.”
Fate's Keep (Fate's Journey Book 2) Page 23
