Cory didn’t feel the pain immediately, but he did see the blood and his own hand fly off the wrist. As he looked back at his foe, he saw the man replace a blade into a sheath at his waist. The Lord’s Hammer rushed forward, losing their concentration. None of them defended against the evil vagrant. Cory fell to the ground as one of his friends tied off his wrist with a tourniquet. His blood still oozed from the stump, but had stopped spurting out. The loss of blood was causing him to grow woozy.
The world had gone silent, he could hear no sounds at all as the shock set in. As he looked at the Wanderer still standing there, Cory’s blood dripping from the top of the sheath at the Wanderer’s waist, he was shocked at the sight. The man did nothing to wipe the fresh blood from his blade. Once again, Cory looked up at those eyes, the face still as stone. The man looked right back at him, catching his gaze and holding it. The Wanderer smiled, and his eyes exploded with a golden glow in an instant. They had been played. His own arrogance had cost Cory his hand. The man had never been weakened by them. The Lord’s Hammer had walked right into his trap.
As Cory began to lose consciousness from shock, and the moderate loss of blood prior to the tourniquet being applied, he watched this man put his sunglasses back on and slowly walk away. The Wanderer was not concerned about them at all, and Cory felt fear for the first time since all went wrong.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nat looked forward to returning to her home and her family. It would take a few days to get back across the city, and back to Council Bluffs, but her excitement grew with each day. This trip had been informative and they had acquired some trade relationships with some survivors’ camps, but it would be good to be home.
“That farm up to the right…” Antwon called out. This would be the farm that her Mom’s itineracy had visited. Ted had decided to make one more appeal, before heading home. Riding their bikes up, they waited outside the gates to see the Richards’. Ted did not want to offend them by entering their property without permission. Nat hoped someone would see them before they stood there like idiots for an hour. There were definitely people in the house, and she was almost sure someone looked out the window at them.
“Cliff!” Ted shouted behind her. “Where are you going?”
She turned and saw the boy hauling ass on his bicycle down the road in the opposite direction of the way they were headed.
“Damn it, boy.” Ted exclaimed, “Nat, Antwon, chase him down and bring him back. I don’t know what he is thinking.”
Cliff had grown even more reclusive over the course of their trip, he did not speak at all anymore and his skin had taken on a greenish hue that caused everyone concern. They didn’t really talk about it and Cliff would not let Antwon even look at him, but Nat guessed that Antwon was sent to force Cliff to comply with a check-up. Natalee pushed her bike hard to catch up, as she saw him head off the road into a dense corn field.
When she and Antwon pulled up, they both thought they would be wiser than Cliff had been and dropped their bikes at the side of the field, running into the area into which they had seen him disappear.
“Cliff!” Antwon called out.
“Come on, buddy!” Nat seconded.
There was no sound initially, but suddenly they heard the crush of metal and a strange sound ahead in the corn. Looking at each other in shock, they both ran forward. Rushing into an open area in the middle of the field, they were horrified to see Cliff’s bike, mangled beyond recognition laying amidst the downed corn stalks. Something large had torn the bike to shreds like it was plywood.
“Cliff,” Natalee called out with urgency and fear, but quieter than the first time. She wasn’t sure what else was out here.
Something moved in the stalks ahead of them, large and scaly. As Nat inched her way closer, she pulled her blade from out of its scabbard. There in the dark between two corn stalks, she saw huge serpentine eyes staring back at her, then the creature who had attacked their friend turned its back and slithered as quickly as a snake can move. It was out of sight, and there was nothing Nat could do but try to run after it. It was shockingly fast, but there was a chance Nat could catch it. At the very least she would be able to chase it away from their young friend, wherever he was. But, Nat was brought up short. A few feet into the clearing, she found a massive amount of blood and a heap of loose skin. It was just a few yards into the patch. She fell to her knees.
The hoodie, soaked in blood and ripped to shreds lay right in the middle of the gory scene. He hadn’t even been gone very long. This great snake, or whatever it was, had torn him to shreds in seconds. Antwon came and kneeled beside her. Neither of them could believe he was gone. After a short while, Antwon tugged at her to get her out of the patch. It was not safe for them to remain.
“No. He was one of us. We bury him.”
“I hear you, Nat. I really do.” Antwon was clearly struggling against a fear of being in this field without clear vision. “We need to get back and tell your uncle what happened.”
“Go ahead, I am burying what is left of him.” Nat began to dig with her hands in the dirt. After a pause, Antwon joined in, probably just to make it faster. They didn’t have to dig far, there wasn’t much left of him but scraps of flesh. After about twenty minutes, they had a moment of silence for him. Then, to Antwon’s relief, they made their way back to their bikes.
Riding back was slower, the words were not coming to Nat how she would explain this. She thought of Kin, and telling her boyfriend that the last member of his family had been killed. She was at a loss, but as they came within sight of the farmhouse, Nat could see a body in the street and someone kneeling nearby. The thoughts of Cliff’s demise were numbed by the chance that the body in the street was her Uncle Ted. She recognized his form, but her mind would not accept it.
Another person ran toward him with a pail or something in their hands. Nat and Antwon both picked up their speed immediately, sprinting their bikes for maximum speed. As they drew close, Nat could see the person sprawled out on the street was definitely Ted. But, he was moving. He was still alive! Antwon went to his side and settled into a healing. Nat pulled her blade and walked up to the couple who were there.
“Where are the rest of my group?” She asked, pointing the blade at the woman’s chest.
The woman, and her husband, cowered away from Nat. The man said, “The Faith took them. There is nothing we could do.”
“Nat,” came the weary voice of her uncle behind her and Nat turned. “They didn’t do anything. They were being victimized also. These guys came, looked like monks and another who looked like a priest and claimed that the Hermit had done them some harm. They told us to bring the Hermit to them for justice. Then they took Rich, Emma, and Anthony.”
“Uncle Ted.” Nat inquired, “How were they able to attack you?”
Her uncle shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs of being bludgeoned over the head. “They took my powers away, like being around your grandmother, but much worse. Where is Cliff?”
Natalee’s tears broke through, but she did not sob. She couldn’t answer.
“Something in the field got him.” Antwon offered. “We buried what was left.”
“No…” Ted exhaled, “Cliff.”
EARLY AUTUMN
“Before the catalyst, there is always seeming inaction. Each molecule plays its part in the beginning of action.”
- Dr. Nils Hoeffer, Council on Biological Ethics
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Riding their bikes back to the Bluffs as fast as they could was taxing for the others, but Nat’s abilities gave her extra stamina as well. Uncle Ted had not allowed her to ride ahead, feeling that he should meet with the Council himself and develop a plan. Her concerns were even more specific. How was she supposed to tell Kin about his brother? Turning her bike up the long, steep hill to the Bluffs, she racked her brain to try and find a way.
Antwon was dragging behind, not having the physical abilities that both Natalee and Ted had. Nat turned
and looked at her uncle and he just nodded. He knew that she wanted to get back. She could not stand putting off this bad news. She put all effort into a bicycle sprint up the hill. In no time, she came to the gates and the greeting of the guards. She saw Max, Kin, her Mom and her Aunt Kayla walking their way, and knew that Max’s dogs had seen them. She ran up to Kin and threw her arms around him. Without saying anything, she began to slowly cry.
“Honey,” Kin started, “What’s wrong?”
“Where are the others?” Her mom said, as Ted and Antwon came through the gates behind her.
Nat sobbed into Kin’s shoulder. “I am so sorry, Kin.”
Kin pulled away from her a little. “Wait, Natalee, where is Cliff?”
She broke down. “He ran off. There was nothing we could do. We went after him and … and… there was nothing we could do.”
Kin disengaged from her and walked right up to Ted. “Where is my brother?”
“Oh, Kin.” Ted said compassionately. “Cliff ran off into some field. Some creature was in the field. He is gone. Cliff is gone.”
“No!” Kin yelled and then his tears were flowing too. “He was just a boy. Why didn’t you take care of him?”
“Kin, we tried.” Natalee began, but Kin pushed by her and went back to the home that he and Cliff had shared. Nat just stared after him.
Her mom put her arm around Nat’s shoulders. “Give him time. This is hard.”
“I know Mom.” Nat brushed her mom off her shoulders and walked toward the Council chambers. As was usual, they would debrief the remaining team in chambers. This was not something Ted would initially want to talk about in front of everyone. As she walked, she saw people with bandages and healers out in force. She began to notice the damage to buildings, it looked like they had been in a battle. But why would her Mom and Aunt say nothing when they arrived?
As she arrived, she saw Erica walk in with an infant in her arms. She had given birth! Nat ran over and gave Erica a hug. As much sadness as Nat was feeling, Erica seemed to be carrying a burden as well.
“Erica, she is so beautiful!” Nat kissed the baby on the head. “What is her name?”
“Rose.” Erica replied, smiling.
“Where is the proud Papa?” Nat asked, looking around.
“He hasn’t met her yet. We will talk about that in a minute.” The rest of the council and a few others were piling in to the chambers, so Nat went and took a seat along the wall. The last person to come in before they closed the doors was Kin, who sat across the room and wouldn’t even look at her.
Ted began the meeting. “Nat, Antwon and I are pretty tired, to be honest. But, this can’t wait.”
Nat’s brother, Kyle, nodded his head in greeting from his place on the Council and Nat smiled back at him, sheepishly. Ted went through the entirety of their story in a pretty succinct fashion, finishing with Cliff’s death and the capture of their party’s members. He stated the Faith’s demand, without really sharing how unrealistic it was to think they would capture and turn over the Hermit to the Faith.
Completing the tale of their trip, he concluded with, “We will need to figure out what to do. We will do this as a team. But, I have to be clear, there is no way we are not going to battle against this group. They have determined that we are of ‘the Devil’. Trust me when I say that there will be no peace right now with these people. That being said, I would guess you all have some things to tell us also?”
Kayla had been in charge while he was gone, so she stood and addressed the assemblage. “Yes, we have a couple of issues here at home. We are having what can only be described as a collective menstrual period. We don’t know what is causing it, but it is happening on a lunar cycle. During the three days it persists, every man woman and child loses impulse control. We get violent. We get overtly sexual. We have no control over our emotions. It is pervasive. It has caused fights, affairs, rapes, property destruction, a little bit of everything.”
“Great,” Ted said in exhaustion. “Not only will we have to send an army out to fight the Faith, but we will have to worry about everyone here tearing each other apart once a month? And that doesn’t even include keeping an eye out for Fine and his men.” A low mumble rolled through the room, and Ted looked up. “What?”
“That is another thing,” Kayla stated cautiously, “Eric Fine is at the Hillside, waiting for you. He has Adam and the other healers there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Emma could not see through the burlap sack that had been placed over her head, but she could smell her own sweat rising up. Combined with whatever had been held in the bag before, onions she guessed, it was a fairly repugnant odor. They had walked, and stumbled, for a very long time over multiple days, and had no idea where they were. They were hit any time they tried to talk to one another. It was one of the most frightening experiences of her life.
For a few days, they had been tied to some wood apparatus on some hard dirt in the middle of a hot area. That much she knew. The sun beat down and drained them of energy, but that was not the biggest concern. Every once in a while, Emma would try to reach out with her mind and interact with the plants around them, but to no avail. Her powers were still there, she could feel them, but they were dulled. Gagged except when they ate, and always having their eyes covered, she did not know if the other two with her even noticed the dulling of their abilities. Both men’s abilities were tied to their voices.
Anthony had a gift of persuasion. When used, he could sway people. It was never what Emma expected of that kind of gift. It was resistible, in that it was just persuasive, not commanding. Emma was one of the few people he had told about his ability, as they had been friends since they had left Eric Fine’s compound together. He couldn’t make someone do something they didn’t want to do. He could convince them if they were on the fence, or get them to do what they really wanted to do against the pressure they might otherwise feel. Emma always considered it a fascinating gift.
Rich, on the other hand, could change the mood with his singing. It worked when he played instruments also, but that wasn’t an issue either. As a scientist, Emma had never had much use for religious people, but Rich was different. He was the kind of religious person one hoped to meet, but rarely did. He was not one to judge. He was accepting of others, even when they greatly disagreed with him. And, he was the most compassionate person. That was why it was so surprising when they were taken.
After the men knocked Ted unconscious, a feat already beyond comprehension, they had bound and gagged Emma, Rich, and Anthony, and led them off to God knows where. The only solace that Emma could find was in the fact that Natalee, Antwon, and Cliff had been away from them and had not been captured. She only hoped Ted was alright.
Footsteps crunched nearby. “Take the hoods off.” Came the unmistakable deep voice of Minister Sal.
Blinding white light made her quint at the hazy forms before her as the hood was unceremoniously ripped from her head. The breeze was wonderful, though. She closed her eyes to try to let them adjust and breathed deeply of air not compressed with her own body odor and the lingering scent of musty onions.
“Tell me,” came the sound of Sal’s bass voice.
The voice that followed overwhelmed Emma with sadness. “This is Dr. Emma Pare, she is a biologist from the military.” It was Kim Pile’s voice and Emma squinted enough to see Kim standing next to Sal and a whole group of people wearing robes that looked like monk’s robes.
“Kim?” Emma gasped out.
“Be quiet!” Sal said and one of the young men by her side grabbed her by the hair, jerking her head back. “What demon resides in her?”
As Emma tried to understand what the hell that meant, she heard a stammering Kim reply, “She makes things grow, plants and such.”
“Have you ever seen her harm anyone with this?” The venom dripping from Sal’s voice was unmistakable.
“No, she grows gardens and flowers. She isn’t dangerous.” Kim replied.
“You will convince her to repent, then?” Sal asked.
“Of course, Minister.” Kim said and Emma saw her bow.
“This one?” Sal asked, clearly moving on. The man had let go of her hair, so she was able to look to her right and see a beat up Rich next to her.
“This is Pastor Rich Carson. He is able to soothe people with music.” Kim said and Emma could actually hear the fondness in her voice.
“A Pastor who works with the enemy…” Sal mumbled.
Rich responded, “We are not your enemy.”
Sal backhanded Rich across the face. “Keep quiet, demon. I did not say your group was our enemy. You are the worst kind of heretic. A supposed man of God, willing to work on behalf of the Adversary himself. Using the power of the demons inside you to conquer the world. Do you think your master will win the war?”
“You are delusional.” It was all Rich said, but the anger that small phrase held was not lost on anyone. Emma had never seen Rich angry.
“Gag him again. If he speaks, bash his head in.” Sal stated, as though he was ordering someone to clean the kitchen. “His sentence is death.”
Emma looked up and saw the shock and horror on Kim’s face, but for some reason, the woman said nothing. Emma did not feel the same restraint. “Are you afraid of someone challenging you? Do you fear the truth from this man, this good man?”
“Gag her, too.” Sal said and moved down to Anthony, who was on the other side of Rich.
Sal turned to Kim and she complied, saying, “This is Anthony Johnson. I don’t think he has any powers.”
Sal seemed confused by this. He looked at the man standing next to Anthony, who was missing his right hand. The man just shrugged and shook his head no. Sal continued, “If he is not possessed, he might be saved. I can show mercy, as our Lord has shown mercy. Convince him to take the pledge.”
Kim didn’t say anything, but she bowed her head once more.
Sal turned to the crowd watching. “The Lord has given these people into our hands. Two of them may be saved, only He knows for sure. But a man who sells his soul, is indwelt by demons, and who was once of the fold? He is a traitor to God’s cause. He will receive the just penalty for his choices, as an example to the rest. We will go to the edge of the devil’s own stronghold and burn him for his crimes.” Turning back toward the three of them, Sal said. “I will give the other two fifteen days to comply, or they shall burn with him. Take them to the cells.”
Fear of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 2) Page 8
