by Gene Curtis
They started walking toward the sunstone. LeOmi yawned. Then Nick yawned. So did Mark. Five more steps and all three collapsed to the ground.
* * *
About half a dozen guards reached the gate and released their dogs as a pack. The dogs spotted Mr. Diefenderfer and Mr. Young and started bounding down the steep incline toward them.
Mr. Young said, “I wonder if they’ve ever seen a giant thrall?” With that, about fifty thralls ran together, collided and transformed into a twenty-foot tall thrall. The dogs stopped in their tracks and barked nervously. The thrall raised its arms and charged the dogs. One dog was brave enough to charge back. It sunk its teeth into the thrall’s ankle and came away with a mouth full of dirt. The thrall kept charging and the dog tried again with the same result. The other dogs cowered backwards, barking and whimpering.
Mr. Diefenderfer said, “Maybe we should... corral them before... they hurt themselves.” Another group of thralls ran up behind the dogs and formed a semicircle. The dogs didn’t notice the ones behind them as their attention was on the giant in front of them. When the first dog backed into a thrall, he turned his head, whimpered, tucked tail, hunched his back and tried to slink to the side. The other dogs noticed the cowering dog first and then the thralls behind them. They tucked tail as well and two tried to slink away while the other two rolled over on their backs exposing their bellies.
Mr. Young said, “It would be good if the guards coming down the hill didn’t have any bullets in their guns.” Another group of about a hundred thralls began charging up the hill and the guards began firing. The bullets were hitting the thralls as evidenced by the impact splashes but the rounds had no effect on them. The guards reloaded and continued firing while the thralls got ever closer. When they ran out of ammo the second time they began running back up the hill shouting in Turkish, “Devils! It is devils!”
Mr. Young said, “I think we’re done here.” The thralls collapsed into individual piles of dirt and the duo remanifested.
Back at the cave entrance Mr. Young said, “We gave them enough time. They should be done.”
Mr. Diefenderfer said, “Just a second... I’ll check.” A moment later, he said, “They’re gone and... so is the... sunstone. No explosion... no debris.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
They’re Captured
Back at The Seventh Mountain Mr. Diefenderfer and Mr. Young appeared on the front steps and ran into the school heading for The Oasis. Most of the council members usually ate an early breakfast there to keep a finger on the pulse of the student body and to be informally available should anyone need to see them. Mrs. Shadowitz and Mr. McGraw were there on the stage sitting together and just finishing up. They ran up onto the stage and Mr. Young panted, “Have Mark, LeOmi and Nick returned?”
Mrs. Shadowitz responded, “I haven’t seen them,” and motioned to get Jeremy’s attention.
“We located the... sunstone in a... cave and now ... it’s gone too.” Mr. Diefenderfer was short of breath likewise.
“Must have been a trap we didn’t detect.” Mr. Young was still catching his breath.
Jeremy approached and said, “Yes ma’am?”
“Have you seen Mark, LeOmi or Nick this morning?”
“No ma’am, not this morning.”
Mrs. Shadowitz closed her eyes and opened them a moment later. “A Seven Mountain Alert has been initiated. Do you have any information that might help in the search?”
Both men shook their heads and Mr. Diefenderfer said, “They evidently used... the sunstone as... bait for a... trap. Joseph and I... created a diversion... while Mark, Nick... and LeOmi went... in the cave... to set the... charges.”
Mr. Young added, “Most likely it was Ruby after LeOmi.”
“Was the sunstone destroyed?”
“There was no... debris from an... explosion.”
Shana approached the stage and said, “I have a report.” Mrs. Shadowitz nodded and Shana continued, “Mark’s brother’s counselor David reports that James is missing. He usually goes for a run before breakfast and it’s not unusual for him to take breakfast late. When you issued the alert, he took count of where his charges were and couldn’t find James anywhere. He’s still looking and asked me to make his report.”
“Thank you, Shana. Tell everyone what has happened and let them start looking too.” As Shana turned to leave Mrs. Shadowitz added, “He may be at home with his parents today.”
“I don’t believe he would have done that without telling someone, but I’ll check.”
Mrs. Shadowitz motioned for Mr. Young and Mr. Diefenderfer to sit. “Why don’t you have something to eat? I know you must be hungry.”
The men sat and Mr. Young asked, “Does Nick carry the key to his machine with him?”
Mr. Diefenderfer said, “Excellent idea. I believe he... does.”
Mrs. Shadowitz said, “Let me guess, it has a locator beacon?”
Mr. Young nodded, “As soon as he takes it out of Aaron’s Grasp we’ll be able to get a fix on his location.”
Mrs. Shadowitz closed her eyes and when she reopened them she said, “A receiver is on its way here.”
* * *
Mark awoke and felt extremely groggy. It was pitch dark so the first thing he noticed was that the smell was different; it was like dry dirt, very different from the rank olive oil. He knew he was in a different place. Then he noticed that his arms hurt and they were stretched over his head. He tried to move them and couldn’t, they were bound at his wrists. He realized he was hanging from a manacle. He tried to move his legs and they were bound too. He looked around and couldn’t see anything until he looked up. There was a small chimney in the ceiling and he could see a couple of stars. It was nighttime and that meant that they’d moved them half way around the world or that he’d been unconscious for quite a while.
“Well lookie-lookie who’s awake, if it isn’t wunderkind himself,” a female voice said. “I’ve got a surprise for you and it isn’t even your birthday. LeOmi tells me you can use Spirit Sight. Have a look at who’s here with you; go ahead, I’ll wait.”
Mark closed his eyes and entered Spirit Sight. Ruby was there with him and his body was chained to the sunstone. Nick was chained to the other side and still unconscious. Last time Otomi had used ropes to tie him to the sunstone and he was able to cut himself free. This time they used chains. Three people were chained to bolts set in the floor. He looked closer and saw that it was his father, mother and brother. There was another figure, a man, squatting at his mother’s feet. He had a knife in his hand and he was three headed: a man, a ram and a bull. It was probably Nageed Shade possessing someone’s body.
Ruby asked, “Would you care to give me that staff you’re carrying?”
He wasn’t about to give it up. Her smile told him that she was looking forward to the torture to come. “Is that Nageed Shade?”
Her smile grew and she nodded her head at an angle letting him see her joy about him recognizing what was about to happen. “It is.”
He knew he couldn’t endure watching his family being eaten alive, one organ at a time. His mother had already been through the beginnings of that experience and it had driven her mad. He couldn’t let her go through that again, but if he gave up the staff then Benrah’s plans would likely come to fruition much sooner. That was something that he wouldn’t allow. He knew the chains couldn’t hold him any more than the ropes had, but he had to keep the secret that God had provided him a special sword.
“I’m a pig headed poke; ask Benrah, he’ll tell you it’s true. And I’m not giving up the staff. Now, here’s a foretelling for you.” His spirit lifted the staff high. “What you do to my family will in like manner be done to you.” He lowered the staff. “I’ve given you a great gift. You get to choose your own fate.”
Ruby’s smile diminished. “No, it’s you who choose the fate of your family. Nageed will stop when you let the staff fall to the floor. He’s been known to take days applying his art
to an individual. With three, it could take more than a week. And don’t forget, there are more people that you care about. We’ll be here for as long as it takes; you will give up the staff.”
Ruby’s spirit went back to her body and Mark went back to his. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ruby placing a lantern on the floor by Nageed. His parents and brother lay motionless with their eyes closed.
“They’ll wake up shortly and then the fun begins.”
“Where’s LeOmi?”
“Oh, little sister and I are going to have a chat. If you’re a good boy I’ll bring her to see you later.”
His mom’s head rolled to the side and she moaned. Her head rolled back the other way and her eyes opened. When she realized she was chained to the floor she started jerking violently, pulling at the restraints. The man who Nageed had possessed grinned, moved forward and straddled her legs. Shirley squirmed, twisted, arched her back, twisted and squirmed some more, but nothing worked. He used the knife to cut her blouse open and then made a ‘U’ shaped incision in her belly. She screamed loud and long. He folded the flap back over her chest exposing her intestines and liver.
Steve and James awoke, assessed the situation, started struggling against their chains and yelling at the man that was butchering Shirley.
Ruby yelled over the hubbub, “Have fun now. I’ll check on you later. Oh, and Mark, just so she knows, you can end this any time you wish.”
Mark yelled back, “I’m not giving you the staff.”
Ruby smiled and walked away.
* * *
At the mouth of the cave Ruby knelt, entered Spirit Sight and a moment later she was in the presence of Benrah. Each time it was different. This time Benrah appeared as a glowing mist beside a waterfall streaming down the side of a lush mountain. Finding him wherever he might be in the world had never been a problem. It was almost like entering a Dream Cast; her spirit just had to have a desire to be with him. She hated to think what would happen if she didn’t have that desire. She supposed he insisted on this to test his subjects’ loyalty. If the spirit wasn’t willing then it wouldn’t go to him. Her spirit was willing because of the consequences of doing otherwise.
“My lord, I have LeOmi.”
“It’s about time,” his voice sounded childlike this time. “You can do with her as you wish short of causing her death. Keep your objective clearly in mind. She must not be allowed to acquire that staff.”
“Yes my lord... My lord, I have also captured Mark and Nick.”
“I thought you might, and what have you done with them?”
“My lord, I have chained them to the sunstone and set Nageed Shade to dinner with Mark’s family while they watch.”
“He will not give you the staff. He’s pretty stubborn.”
“My lord, he said you called him a pig headed poke.”
Benrah laughed. “On more than one occasion. What are your plans for LeOmi?”
“My lord, I’ll try to turn her. If it doesn’t work then I’ll imprison her.”
“You may try, and you may succeed, but remember always to keep her from the staff.”
“Yes, my lord.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The Chat
Ruby’s office was plush: thick pile carpet, leather-bound books on mahogany shelves, a large mahogany desk, old original oil paintings and a magnificent view of the city below. The jeweled dagger was in a small rack mounted to the wall. The gurney with LeOmi strapped to it was totally out of place but the two muscle-bound guards in dark gray suits looked right at home. Ruby opened the door and stepped in. She spoke to the guards, “She wasn’t any trouble, was she?”
The closest one said, “No ma’am. She was asleep until a few minutes ago.”
Ruby smiled, “You can go. I’ll be fine.” She turned to LeOmi, “Hello little sister. Getting you alone where we could have a little chat, sister to sister, was quite an experience wouldn’t you say?”
LeOmi couldn’t help but wonder where this was going. Did Ruby really think she was that dumb? Did her sister still see her as that little kid that always pretended to be scared by the ghost stories she told? No, this had to be her opening gambit in a game designed to cause LeOmi ultimate despair, and the game was totally stacked against her. She looked at the dagger on the wall.
Ruby turned to glance at the dagger too. “You like that, do you?”
“It was momma’s.”
“Grand-Mère’s too. And her mother’s before that; passed down from generation to generation for almost four thousand years, mother to daughter.”
That was a lie and LeOmi knew it. From what she’d been able to piece together the knife hadn’t been in the same family line for four thousand years. It had to have changed family lines on several occasions. Her family was of mostly French ancestry and Ishtar was an ancient Sumerian religion.
“You think it should be yours; you can have it, I don’t want it.”
“Oh, of course you don’t want it. You don’t even know what it is.”
LeOmi wondered if it would be wise to let her know that she knew exactly what it was: the symbol of the high priestess of Ishtar, the dagger that was used to slit the throats of countless infants before they were tossed into the fire, or if she should just play dumb.
“I don’t care what it is.”
Ruby snickered and shook her head. “That dagger is the crown of the most powerful woman in the world. The one that wears it is more powerful and wealthier than any king or any president that has ever been. That dagger allows you to control the women that control the men who think they run this world. That dagger makes you queen of this world.”
While it could be true, it didn’t have the sound of truth to it. “Like I said, I don’t want the dagger; I don’t want to be queen of the world. I just want to go back to my simple life at The Seventh Mountain.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible sweetie. I’m under strict orders to keep you away from that staff you’re searching for.”
“Take the dagger and be queen of this world. Then you can release me.”
“I wish it was so simple. Benrah is not of this world and I have to obey him. And in order to rightfully take that dagger I have to kill you with it. That dagger became yours when you killed Compton... oh my queen.”
There it was; her first move. The obvious response would be to ask why she was still alive and the obvious answer was that Benrah had ordered it. “Grand-Mère passed it on to momma without being killed. What’s the procedure for that?”
“Your daughter is presented before the tribunal of priestesses along with other candidates. They chose one and the rest are sacrificed to prevent contention. Pretty simple really.”
“So, how are you planning to kill me?”
“Oh, I’m not going to kill you, but I will encourage you to kill yourself. I’m good at that kind of thing.”
LeOmi thought, Give me five minutes alone and I’ll get out of these restraints. Then we’ll see who gets killed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Meanwhile, Back at the Sunstone
With his hands bound, it was hard to retrieve a bug bomb from Aaron’s Grasp. He finally got one but not before Nageed had moved around to her head and cut off her ears and nose. He held them for her to see before laying them gently on her chest. Mark thought it likely that she saw nothing because of her struggling and the amount of blood flowing into her eyes as a result. He flipped the bug bomb out and it ignited, emitting a cloud of white smoke and filling the cave with the smell of burnt fish. The body of the man crumpled to the floor indicating that Nageed had fled.
He fumbled trying to get the sword from the bottom of the staff, every precious moment his mother lay there bleeding and moaning. Try as they might, no one could get free to help her. Nick awoke and struggled with his chains, “Hey! What’s going on?”
It was just a matter of focusing now. Once he cut his manacles free, he’d be able to use the healing oil on her. He had to get the sword! He clo
sed his eyes and entered the spirit realm, removed the sword from the staff and tried to cut the chains. It didn’t work so he placed the sword in his hand and reentered his body. The sword was in his physical hand. He carefully cut his chain and fell face forward. He tried to catch himself but his forehead struck the floor anyway. He felt his own blood flowing and tried to ignore the pain. He carefully cut the manacle from his ankles and he was free.
The healing oil was gone from his pocket. So was his utility tool, so was everything. “The healing oil is gone!” Tears began rolling down his face as the reality hit him. His mother was the only one there that could remanifest and getting her back to the healing ward at The Seventh Mountain was her only hope for survival.
He looked at her; she was losing a lot of blood. Nick first, he thought. He might have something to help her. He fought through his tears to see Nick’s shackles and ever so carefully sliced through the metal around his ankles. One minor slip could mean Nick losing an important body part. Next, he severed the chain above his head and then the bands around his wrists.
Nick had been in a position where he couldn’t see what was going on and he was shocked when he followed Mark around the sunstone. Mark removed his first aid kit from Aaron’s Grasp and handed it to Nick. “See if you can stem her bleeding while I cut the others loose.”
Nick took the kit and went straight to Shirley. Mark went to his dad. “Hold very still. This blade is very sharp.” He cut Steve free, then James and then his mother.
He wiped the blood and tears from his eyes and flipped through the IV bags in the first aid kit until he found the one he wanted. He wiped the blood from his eyes again and inserted the needle into her arm. He handed the bag to his dad. “Hold this up for me.” He continued to check her.
James got some gauze from the kit and started working on Mark’s head. “You’re leaking a tad. Let me try to plug it.”
