by Gene Curtis
Mark held two fingers up as they approached the attendant, “Two please.”
The gray haired man said, “We’ve been pretty busy today, only one left. You could wait for one to return.”
“One will be fine.”
He stamped the receipt with his signet and the man slid the boat into the water.
LeOmi asked, “Still no talking?”
He stepped in and said, “Benrah could win. His chances are slim, but he could.”
She laughed out-loud, “That ifrit got under your skin, didn’t it?”
He sat and picked up a paddle. “I asked Raphael about it. He didn’t deny it.”
She pushed off and sat down. “And you think it could be true?”
He began paddling slowly downstream. “I don’t want to, but I can’t shake it.”
“Some trust in chariots and swords. You trust in God, at least you used to and that is why we follow you. I think your doubt hinges more on you than it does on God. Look at how He has saved you, and me, so many times.”
“I do trust Him, but for some reason, I can’t shake the feeling, and that bothers me.”
As they approached the first footbridge over the creek, Tony came running up.
“Hey, there you are! The ifrit is back and knows where they are being held. It wouldn’t tell me, says it will only tell LeOmi.”
They paddled the boat to the side and climbed out.
LeOmi said to Tony, “Lead the way.”
Tony started trotting toward Jamal’s Kitchen. As they passed the table where the others were sitting, Mark said, “Time to go.”
Rudy muttered, “Dag nab it.” He looked at the steaming steak on his plate for a moment then picked it up, plate and all, and put it into Aaron’s Grasp.”
Ray said, “Good idea,” and did the same with his plate.
As they jogged to the front entrance, Mark said, “We’re going back to Ethiopia. The ifrit has found where they are being held.”
* * *
The predawn sky was just beginning to lighten. The glowing ifrit was easy to spot sitting on the ground just outside the Nazarite village. LeOmi led the way as they rushed up to it.
When they got there, LeOmi asked, “Where are they?”
The creature answered, “An island in the northern Kara Sea; I tried to get someone to take me there, but failed.”
He asked, “Anyone know where the Kara Sea is?”
The major answered, “Arctic Ocean, north of Siberia. It has a lot of islands.”
Mark asked the ifrit, “Which island.”
“I do not know.”
“Good job.” Mark sat on the ground and said to his team, “Spirit Sight, let’s see if we can find a clue on which island it is.”
About an hour later, he was searching one of the northernmost islands and spotted an orange Quonset building. It looked like the one from his dream. He moved inside and started looking around. One of the large crates by the wall was standing on its side, making it taller than he was. The panel on the backside was hinged and opened like a door. Inside, the floor was an ice ramp leading down.
He moved down and after a little bit, what he saw changed to a man being beheaded. Dream stones, he thought.
He touched the wall with his staff, “I need the dream stones to fall free.”
He heard the sound of stones falling, cascading down the ramp and then farther into the cavern.
He moved down until he could travel along the ceiling in the large ice cavern. About fifty yards away he could see six small tents lit from the inside. He moved into the closest one and found four Magi sleeping on their sides on a blanket on the floor. Their spirits stirred and greeted him.
Mr. Diefenderfer said, “Our best hope lies in you. I will support you however I can.”
Mr. Young said, “I am so proud to have you as my grandson.”
Mrs. Shadowitz said, “You have organized and motivated your team well. Should you need help, I stand ready.”
Shirley said, “I am so worried for your safety.”
He realized they were experiencing this as a dream meeting and said, “You need to wake up.”
Mr. Diefenderfer stirred first and looked at him. “Perchance... you have a cup of hot chocolate?”
“Actually, I may have.” He pulled an MRE from the backpack his spirit routinely carried and set it down on his legs. Then he set the entire backpack down. “There are a few bottles of water in there; the MREs have chemical heaters and cocoa packets.”
“Bless you!”
Shirley woke and Mr. Diefenderfer said, “Mark’s spirit is here.” He held the MRE pack up and sliced it open. “Care for some... hot chocolate?”
She said in a sleepy voice, “Yes, please.” The others awoke when she moved to sit up. She closed her eyes and entered Spirit Sight.
“Hi Mom, are you okay?”
“How are you? How’d you find us? They told us they’d captured you too.”
“I’m a little tired, but other than that, I’m doing okay. We found you because of Jamal’s notes. That led us to an ifrit and it found where you were being held. They lied about capturing me.”
“What’s an ifrit?”
“Fire demon, LeOmi convinced it to help us. It’s a long story.”
“Her staff?”
“Solomon’s signet.”
“It’s fake.”
“The ifrit didn’t know that.”
Mr. Diefenderfer nudged her with a bottle of hot chocolate. She looked around and then went back to her body to get some of the warm beverage.
Mark asked, “Anyone have a rope.”
Mr. Diefenderfer said, “James does... but no one could... climb the ramp... to tie it off. It is too... steep and slippery.”
“I’ll get it tied off and then we can get you all out of here.”
Mr. Diefenderfer moved toward the tent flap. “I will wake him.”
A few minutes later, he returned with a two hundred feet coil of rope. He handed it to Mark, “This should do.”
“I’ll get it tied off and be back in a moment.”
“Perhaps you will... neutralize the dream stones... as well?”
“Already done.”
He nodded, “Of course... thank you.”
When he returned, everyone was waiting near the base of the ramp except for James. He was already on his way up.
Mark said, “A lot has happened since you’ve been gone. When you get back to the mountain, Mr. Thorpe can fill you in. I have to let the others know I’ve found you. I’ll see you there soon.”
Mr. Diefenderfer said through his chattering teeth, “I look forward... to sharing a meal... with you.”
He went back to his body and opened his eyes. Ray was sitting there just finishing eating his steak. A canister of canned heat was sitting near his feet. Everyone else still had their eyes closed.
He asked, “Rudy got the short straw?”
He tossed a coin up. “Two heads are better than one.”
He smiled and nudged each of the others with his hand. A few minutes later, they opened their eyes, one by one.
“I found them,” he said. “They should be back at the mountain any minute now.”
LeOmi grinned, “That’s great.”
The ifrit said, “One complete, nine more to go. What is next?”
Mark said, “Nothing yet, unless you can melt stone.”
“I serve her, not you.”
LeOmi exclaimed, “Brilliant!” She said to the ifrit, “Nothing yet, unless you can melt stone.”
“I can melt stone easily. Do you wish to see?”
Mark nodded, “I’ll show you where to do it. Do you know of America?” He brought to the front of his mind an image of the planet and zoomed in to northern New Mexico.
The creature said, “The land of the Aztec.”
He zoomed in to show Mystery Mountain. “Can you get here?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.”
* * *
&nb
sp; A wooden cubicle was now standing on top of the mountain around the opening to the cavern below. A man in a hardhat, jeans and flannel shirt was standing beside it with a handheld radio in his hand.
Mark asked, “What’s up with this?”
“We’ve had several incidents with locals trying to get up here to see what’s going on, insisting we had no right to keep them out. The county sheriff set them straight.”
The man’s facial expression turned from boredom to absolute fear in an instant. Mark glanced over his shoulder and saw the ifrit behind his team.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay, it’s with me.”
The man’s expression didn’t change.
“Can you call Richard and let him know we’re coming in. Warn him about the ifrit.”
The man stood frozen in place.
LeOmi stepped up and took his handheld radio. “You might want to add a little more starch to your diet. Your backbone seems a little limp.”
She keyed the radio, “Richard, LeOmi here.”
A moment later, Richard’s voice came from the radio, “LeOmi, where’s John?”
“He’s a bit flustered right now. Listen, we’re coming down with an ifrit. Warn your people or they might get flustered too.”
“Ifrit? A fire demon? No you’re not.”
Mark took the radio from LeOmi, “This is Mark, we’re coming down, warn your people.”
Mark eased John aside, opened the door. An air pump was churning away with a six inch hose leading from it down into the hole. Instead of using the rope, he remanifested in. He stepped aside and the others followed his lead with the ifrit coming in last. No one else was in this pocket so he led them, following the air hose, through a dozen that had already been opened.
A half dozen people, wearing hardhats and yellow protective suits, were working to clear the debris behind the tunneling machine by shoveling it into a dump cart. There was a pile of debris off to the side where it had been placed when the cart’s tub was full.
Richard approached, obviously angry. “Are you out of your minds bringing that thing here? Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“I believe it is necessary.”
Someone yelled, “Masks on, we’re almost through!”
The workers stopped where they were, removed their hardhats, and put on full-face gas masks with protective hoods.
Richard grabbed Mark by the shoulders, spun him around and yelled, “Out, out, out!” He jogged in front of Mark to the previous room. Everyone else followed, including the ifrit.
“You believe it necessary to endanger my crew,” Richard growled.
“There is no danger to your crew. It has sworn to do ten missions for LeOmi. It performed its first mission admirably. It had every chance to leave, but returned with the information it was asked to acquire. It has also sworn not to harm any of my people. You and your crew are my people.”
The creature said, “I will not harm you or your crew.”
LeOmi exclaimed, “You do speak English!”
“I do now, some. I learn quickly.”
Mark asked, “How long would it take you to melt through a wall like this?” He ran his hand on the side of the wall.”
The creature placed its hand on the wall and immediately molten rock began splattering to the floor. Everyone jumped back to avoid the splashes. It stood in the middle of the opening and spread its arms and legs to measure it. Its arms almost touched the top of the opening.
“One, maybe two minutes, the rock is hard.”
Mark asked Richard, “How long does it take to bore an opening?”
“One to four hours, okay, I get your point. I want you and LeOmi to stay here, at least until my people get comfortable with this.”
“We’ll stay for an hour.”
Rudy sat down on the floor and removed his steak from Aaron’s Grasp. “It’s cold now, but at least I get to eat it.”
The ifrit held its hand out over the plate for a couple of seconds. “How is that?”
Rudy cut off a piece, plopped it into his mouth and mumbled, “Good, thanks.”
* * *
The nurse said to Mark, “They all had moderate hypothermia and a little malnutrition. They are fine except for that. I’ll release them when their core temperatures return to normal. In the meantime, you’re welcome to visit.”
Salina asked, “Which one is Cap’n Ben?”
The nurse looked at her clipboard and said, “Seventh one down.”
She edged past Mark and went straight to Cap’n Ben’s bed.
Mark asked, “Have they been checked for post-hypnotic commands?”
“Good idea, I’ll make appointments for Julia to see them.”
Mark walked to the closest bed and pulled the curtain back.
“Hey kiddo, I’m told you are going to be just fine.”
As soon as he was close enough, Chenoa sat up, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him dead on the lips. “I knew you’d find us.”
He pried her arms loose. “Well, yeah, you’d do the same. Do you have any idea why they kidnapped you?”
“Not really. We spent the first three days in one of their cities. We couldn’t remanifest because dream stones were all over the place. When we tried to walk out on foot, they captured us and put us in that freezer.”
“The nurse said you all were a little malnourished. Didn’t they feed you?”
“In the city they did; anything we wanted. In the prison, they slid a dozen loafs of bread down the ramp every night. It was always frozen by the time we got to it.”
The sound of curtains being opened began to fill the healing ward. Chenoa motioned, “Please open mine too, so I can see.”
He did and saw Ricky standing beside Nick in the next bed. He heard Nick say, “I’ll have to see what can be salvaged.” Evidently, Ricky had told him about the citadel.
He said to Chenoa, “I don’t know if you know yet, but the citadel was destroyed, every last building.”
“How many dead?”
“Eleven.”
She frowned. “Lucky it wasn’t more.”
“I’m thankful for that. I’m looking at building a new headquarters in a more secure location. So far, it looks like it might work out.”
“Where?”
“Under the mountain where I found the top part of the staff is riddled with lava pockets. The mining expert described it like the bubbles in a pancake.” He smiled at her, “I’m thinking of calling it Flapjack Flats.”
She smiled back, “Say that ten times fast.”
“I need to go say hi to everyone else. The nurse said you’d be released soon. I’ll see you at Jamal’s Kitchen.”
“That reminds me, Jamal has something he needs to tell you about.”
“We already found the ifrit.”
“He figured you would. It’s about the next quest, some kind of scroll.”
“I’ll ask him about it.”
He visited with Nick and James before reaching Jamal.
“Everyone says you’ve got a new quest for us.”
Jama said, “About a thousand years ago, the Twelve Scrolls of The Second Mountain were presented to Shaolin monks for them to copy and study. They detailed philosophy, techniques, fighting styles and some hidden knowledge. All necessary to help the monks protect the general population from corrupt politicians and soldiers. The Eleventh Scroll was stolen. It taught some fighting styles, how to gain great strength as well as how to levitate and pass through walls. All of that is unimportant. What is important is it contains the process for making super healing oil, how to capture and control spirits and the location of Eden along with the subtle ways needed to get to it. Benrah’s forces are close to finding it.”
“The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, his dad already did that.”
“That’s not what he’s after. He wants the cherubim that guard the entrance. More specifically, he wants their weapons. If he gets that scroll, it is possible for him to ca
pture them.”
“I think I know where that scroll is, at least who has it. Would you like to go to Ethiopia with me?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll ask the others. We can all go when everyone gets out of here.”
Chapter 7
Mark and his team remanifested back to the Nazarite village.
They walked into the dining hall. It was breakfast time and the place was full.
He said, “It might be better for you guys to wait outside. We’ll only be a minute or two.” He motioned for LeOmi to go with him.
A man stood and waved to them.
They walked over. Mark took out a case of soda and handed it to Shimishon.
“It is good to see you again my friend.” He motioned for them to sit.
They sat and Mark said, ‘We’re looking for Naomi or Pei-Pei. Are they in the village?”
“No, but we think one of them has been here. Some of Naomi’s things are missing, especially all of her jewelry and money.”
“That makes sense. She needs every advantage she can get. Pei-Pei is probably hunting them. Do you have any idea where they might be hiding?”
“We checked every cave within a hundred and fifty miles north of here and didn’t find them. We did find a cave they were most likely using.”
Mark said to LeOmi, “Would you check the cave where she was left?”
She nodded and closed her eyes.
A minute later, she opened her eyes and said, “They aren’t there.”
“How about checking the Sand Spider’s camp.”
She nodded and closed her eyes again. A couple of minutes later, she opened her eyes and said, “Michelei is there, but she isn’t.”
Mark asked Shimishon, “Where do you think she might be hiding?”
“Your guess is better than mine my friend, although, an old proverb says a good hiding place for a fig is in a basket of figs.”
Mark nodded, “Does she have a favorite city?”
“I do not know, but the bigger the basket, the better it is to hide. The biggest city in Ethiopia is Addis Ababa.”
