by Terra Vonnel
The Vendelli were afraid that the Orb of Time would be used to change the outcome of battles, thereby changing the fate of the world. Being a pirate, Terra had different plans. Once she had stolen the Orb of Time, time, as it were, would be on her side. She would need funding for her quest, and that meant stealing a little something here and there. She liked treasure in general, but she loved the rare, one-of-a-kind treasures the most. What woman doesn’t like to collect a little something for herself? she thought. Terra planned to become the richest woman in the world while at the same time seeking out her mother’s killer. She would like to have taken credit for that brilliant plan, but it was in fact her father’s idea. “A quest needs funding,” he liked to say, and funding they would have. They would also find the answers they were looking for if it was the last thing Terra ever did.
Terra reached for the chair near the map desk and pulled it over to the table. She slowly sat back in the chair, her gaze fixed on the pair of emerald eyes staring back at her.
She found their penetrating stare more than a little creepy. It was as if they were staring into her soul.
Her father had told her that not only did she need both skulls to unlock the Gate of Monticule, but she would need both skulls to even find Mount Aries. According to her father, inscribed at the base of each skull was one piece of the incantation. When read aloud together they would activate the skulls, displaying a secret map that would reveal the location of Mount Aries. back to top
A New Heading
Terra reached for the first skull, lifting it from the table and turning the base so it was facing her. There, carved in a foreign language, was half of the incantation, just as her father had claimed.
Just great, Terra thought. I risk my life for a skull with writing I can’t read. Terra turned when she heard a loud knock on her cabin door.
“Vixen, the Mont Delia is below the sea, and it looks like the storm has passed. Do we have a heading yet or should we head to Tortuga again?”
It was Coven. Maybe he knew what the writings said. He was, after all, fluent in several languages. He had been to every port she had heard of and a few she had not. As a pirate he had been just about everywhere and seen just about everything. After all, he had been her father’s sailing master ever since he was Terra’s age. Her father had always said, “I trust few in this world, and that’s why I have stayed alive so long. But if there is one person I trust with my life, it’s Coven.”
“Come in,” she replied.
Coven entered, displaying his typical swagger and boyish grin, then stopped, looking at the skulls and then Terra.
“Well, from the look on your face I can see you haven’t made much progress. Although you are sitting in front of them now so I guess that’s a start.”
Terra rolled her eyes and turned back around. “Yeah, I’m having a bit of a problem.”
She knew Coven was smiling at his own humor, but she was not about to give any indication she thought it was funny. Even though it was probably something she would have said to him.
There was a brief moment of silence as she waited for Coven to give in to curiosity. Finally he cleared his throat and asked, “Okay, I give. What sort of problem?”
Terra began to grin but quickly composed herself as Coven moved to her side.
“I can’t read the stupid thing. The incantation is split between the two skulls, and according to my father I need to recite the entire thing in order to get the map.”
“Hmmm, well, John was seldom wrong, especially when it came to treasure. But it does sound like a bit of a problem for you there, Vixen.”
Terra turned and looked at Coven. “I don’t suppose you know what it says.”
Coven pulled out a pair of thin bifocals from his vest pocket and placed them on the bridge of his nose.
“Let me see.”
Coven took the skull in his hand and brought the base of the skull close to his face, almost touching his nose.
Terra couldn’t help but grin. “Are you sure those things work? Because I have some Night Hag Elixir on the shelf over there that might do the trick!”
Coven’s eyes shifted from the skull to Terra. “I can see just fine, Vixen, but thank you for your concern.” Then he placed the skull back on the table, removed his glasses, and placed them neatly in his pocket.
“Well?” she said. You could hear the excitement in her voice now.
“Well what?” he replied.
Terra’s head tilted slightly to one side. “Can you read it or not?”
“Yes, I can read it,” he said with a smirk then turned and walked away.
“Coven!” she proclaimed.
Coven stopped, turned, and faced Terra.
“Take it back?” he said.
Terra looked puzzled. “Take what back?”
“The eye thing. Take it back or I will not read your silly little skull!” he replied with one eyebrow raised.
Coven was more than a little sensitive about his eyesight. He was only twenty-three and hated the fact he needed bifocals to read. The two revolvers strapped to his chest lost a lot of their intimidation factor when he was wearing bifocals. Besides, who wanted to be known as the four-eyed pirate? Terra understood this, and she almost laughed out loud just thinking about it.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry about the eye joke, but I hear the elixir does wonders for the old. Why do you think I got it?”
Coven didn’t say a thing. He just turned again and headed for the door.
“Coven, stop. I’m sorry. I won’t say another word. I’ll be nice.” Coven sighed, and turned again to face her. This time Terra stuck out her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes.
Coven rolled his eyes. “Please stop. You look pathetic!”
Coven walked back to the skull, putting on his bifocals. He picked it up once more, holding it to the tip of his nose.
“It’s written in Vendelli,” he said.
Terra sighed. “That much I know.”
Coven peered down at her through his glasses again and signed.
“Sorry,” she said, looking like a scolded child.
Coven cleared his throat and continued. “Blocked is the way unless you posses my mate. She is my soul and she is my fate.”
Terra reached for the other skull and handed it to Coven. He took the skull and read on. “Separate we are nothing and hold no answers. But together we are one and shall show you the gate.”
They stared at each other for a moment, waiting for something to happen.
“Now what?” Coven asked.
Terra shot him a frustrated look.
“You’re asking me?” she replied.
Coven stared into the emerald green eyes. “Hmmm, maybe we should put them down next to one another and say it.”
Terra nodded her head. “Why not!”
Coven placed the two Skulls of Aries back on the table facing one another. Then he grabbed a piece of parchment and a pen from the table and lifted each skull, writing down its portion of the incantation. Once he was done he turned to look over at Terra one last time.
“Ready?” he asked.
Terra stood up slowly and grabbed the Diablo from the table and strapped it on. Next she took the Vanquisher and unsheathed it. The light blue flame ignited, and Terra took one step back.
“I am now.”
Coven took a deep breath and began to recite the incantation.
“Blocked is the way unless you posses my mate. She is my soul and she is my fate. Separate we are nothing and hold no answers. But together we are one and shall show you the gate.”
Terra and Coven held their breath, their eyes fixated on the silver skulls. A soft hum began to resonate from each skull, and the emerald eyes began to glow.
Terra slowly pulled the Diablo from its holster and targeted the closest skull just to be on the safe side.
With each passing moment the glow became brighter. Coven took one step back and placed his hand on Terra’s shoulder.
Terra was
about to join him when two streams of green light burst from each of the skulls, connecting in the space between them. There was a quick flash, and Terra and Coven shielded their eyes.
The humming grew louder. They could feel the vibration in the floor beneath their feet. It was as if they were in an earthquake in the middle of the ocean. Terra heard the mug of tea fall from the table, followed by the sounds of other objects crashing all around them. She felt Coven’s hand grip her shoulder, then just as quickly as it had started the sound suddenly stopped.
Terra’s body felt numb. She could still hear the humming sound coming from somewhere in front of her.
Slowly she opened one eye and then the other.
“Will you look at that!” she said in astonishment.
Still standing next to Terra, Coven dropped his arm from his face and opened his eyes.
There floating in mid air a few feet away was a map made of emerald light.
“And I thought I had seen everything,” he whispered and pulled off his bifocals.
Terra lowered the Diablo and Vanquisher at the same time and took one step forward. Coven followed.
“I know this place,” Coven said, his eyes moving rapidly over the map now. “It’s beyond Dead Man’s Lair. It’s uncharted. No one has ever been out that far.”
Terra took another step forward, running her hand underneath the map as if expecting to find something.
“Well, apparently the Vendelli have,” she said, looking over at Coven.
“Yeah, looks that way,” he replied, still staring at the floating image.
Terra holstered the Diablo and sheathed the Vanquisher.
“It looks like we have our heading now,” she said.
Coven looked down at his glasses, folded them neatly together, and placed them back in his vest pocket. Then he turned to Terra and with his boyish grin replied, “Yes, I think we do.” back to top
Mount Aries
The full moon hung high in the night sky like a shining beacon, guiding her through the vast sea to the shoreline of Mount Aries.
In no time Terra and five of her crewmen made their way to shore in a small wooden boat as the Aspen lay anchored in the distance. Terra was the first to step ashore, her black boots sinking deep into the soft sand as she made her way out of the boat and up the beach toward the cavern.
The cave entrance was narrow and damp, and the smell of natural sediments lingered in the warm air. Jagged cavern walls glimmered like onyx as they made their way over and around the sharp stalactites that hung from the ceiling.
“Vixen, we need light,” Coven whispered.
Terra stopped and looked back at the men that trailed behind her. Hunkered down, scared, and with only the whites of their eyes visible, she knew Coven was right. It was too dark and treacherous to continue like this. Each man carried a sword and a pack of supplies. She knew this would be the most dangerous part of the journey, so they had prepared for the worst.
Terra reached for the Vanquisher and unsheathed it. Its blue flame ignited, casting a warm glow throughout the cold, dark cavern, and for the first time, Terra felt her skin crawl.
The cave walls shimmered like diamonds. Emerald-colored water lay stagnant in small pools at their feet, filled by the slow, continuous drip of water from the stalactites above.
Terra lifted the Vanquisher high into the air, so she could survey the area more closely. Now visible were hundreds of human bones that littered the ground, scattered into the far corners of the cave and down the passageway they would need to travel.
It was just fear, she told herself, fear of the unknown, fear as she had faced many times before. It was the devastation surrounding her that gave her good reason to fear the unknown. Whatever was protecting the gate was deadly, perhaps so deadly they might not escape.
Terra made her way up the rock face and back down into the passageway with her men close behind. Coven was closest to her, followed by Rip, Quinn, Marcus, and Vallenbore. Her men could take care of themselves, and she knew that. They were all capable seamen and notorious pirates in their own right. Terra also knew if they were going to survive they would need to stay together and alert. This was going to be dangerous, possibly more dangerous than any of them could conceive. She knew something was here lurking, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but she told herself that was not going to happen.
As Terra made her way deeper into the passageway, she thought she heard a faint whisper. She stopped, turned, and signaled for her men to stop.
“What is it, Vixen?” whispered Coven.
Terra’s wide eyes scanned the passageway as if she were searching for something she could not see. “I… I thought I heard something,” she whispered back.
They stood in silence. Only the echoing of heavy breathing from the men could be heard now.
“Maybe it was nothing, maybe the wind,” Coven said.
“Maybe…” she replied.
Terra turned and started down the passageway once more when the voice whispered again.
“W-w-w-why do you come with six souls?”
The voice was coming from behind them. Terra turned, raising and pointing the Vanquisher back down the narrow passageway as the men shifted and turned to get a better look. The pale blue flame illuminated the passageway, but there was nothing to be seen but darkness.
“Vixen, we need to leave. It is the devil!” Quinn said, terrified.
“We are not leaving. Stand your ground, Quinn,” she snapped back. “And arm yourselves, because whatever is here wants us dead. I will not let anything stop me from reaching that gate!”
Terra turned around and hastened down the passageway. All four crewmen drew their swords; Coven drew both of his revolvers and scurried behind her. The passageway grew higher and wider as they moved forward. Suddenly a piercing cry rang out behind them, and the clank of a sword hitting the ground echoed through the dark passageway.
Terra turned, shining the Vanquisher behind her, to find only four of her men remaining. Vallenbore had vanished.
“Quickly,” she said. “Follow me and do not look back!”
The men did not argue. Their eyes shifted from side to side in panic, a shroud of fear covering their faces as they moved quickly through the passageway, hoping to survive. back to top
The Guardian
With the Vanquisher leading the way and her men behind her, Terra Vonnel was officially scared. The long passageway finally opened up into a vast cavern with twin waterfalls that funneled down like white, snowy curtains into a pool of crystal clear water.
The view was spectacular, with long, lush ivy and beautiful green ferns that protruded from small crevasses in the cavern walls. A water rainbow lay visible in the thin mist just above the falls where she finally saw the golden gates of Monticule.
Overwhelmed, they took in the magnificent sight. Nowhere in all their travels had they encountered such a tranquil oasis.
“Heaven…” Coven whispered. “Vixen, we must be in heaven.”
If it were not heaven, Terra thought, it was close enough for her. The men stood gazing up at the extraordinary beauty they had stumbled upon. They were so engulfed for that brief moment they had forgotten about the passageway and the loss of Vallenbore. They had forgotten about the danger that was now slithering up behind them in the form of a dark shadow.
Moving like a snake, inching its way closer to the party, the dark force crept slowly behind the first of its prey.
Rip was a tall, gangly man. He weighed a hundred pounds, if that. Like the rest of the men, Rip stood mesmerized by the breathtaking scene and was in no way aware of the danger looming behind him.
The dark shadow moved closer, rolling over the jagged terrain before stopping behind Rip. Suddenly a body sprung from the shadow, with a long scorpion-like shape and the head of a dragon.
The barbed stinger exploded through Rip’s chest from behind, sending blood and flesh flying in every direction! Rip screamed in agonizing pain as his body flew high into
the air and thrashed aimlessly around.
Startled, Terra spun quickly, withdrawing the Diablo 9 Shooter, and in one swift motion, she fired a shot into the demon’s face.
The three silver bullets ripped through the thick exoskeleton of the dragon’s head. The creature let out an ear- piercing shriek before bursting into green flames and charring the body of Rip.
The remains fell from a height of at least twenty feet. Upon impact, the body shattered like glass.
“This is no heaven, Coven, this is the devil’s lair!” Quinn said, his lip quivering and hands shaking.
“Vixen, what have we done, what evil have we unleashed? I… I… think we should leave and never return to this place!” Marcus said, his wide eyes peering from side to side, searching for the devil beast.
“Enough!” Terra said. “We are here for one thing and one thing only. I suggest you remember that! We stay close to one another, and we move as one." Terra stared into Marcus' eyes. "And do not let me hear another word about leaving or I will kill you myself! Do I make myself clear?”
The three remaining men looked at one another then back to Terra. Scared and worried, they acknowledged the Sea Vixen with a simple nod of their heads.
They were all expendable except for Coven. She would miss them, of course, but there was nothing more important than reaching the gate and retrieving the Orb of Time.
“We need to make our way up the rock face to the top of the waterfalls,” she said, pointing the Vanquisher in the direction of the rushing water. “From there, we open the gate, take what we came for, and leave!”
She stared into the eyes of each of the men as she spoke. Quinn and Marcus still looked frightened, but Coven smiled back, nodding his head in agreement.
“Lead the way, Vixen!” Coven said.
Terra turned and made her way to the right side of the rock face. Holstering the Diablo 9 shooter and sheathing the Vanquisher, she began to climb.
Coven, Marcus, and Quinn sheathed and holstered their weapons and followed close behind. The rock face was extremely slippery due to the humidity from the waterfalls and the texture of the onyx-type stone.
