Ancient Origins: Books 4 - 6 (Ancient Origins Boxset Book 2)

by Robert Storey

  The barrage of noise continued. Light seared bright and Goodwin squeezed his eyes tighter, praying for an end.

  The noise reached an unbearable crescendo. Pain lanced through his ears and then … moments later … it was gone.

  The white brilliance vanished, the gale dropped to a breeze, and Goodwin cracked open an eye as the storm dissipated to cloud. The pentagram continued to rotate, but the altar’s symbols dimmed and the glow inside the crystal wall died along with them.

  Outside the sphinx, on the chamber’s horizon, the Anakim spires shone bright with the charge of power, and those who could see it were transfixed by the sight.

  Back inside the ancient monument, Goodwin was equally awestruck by the glowing statue of the Anakim god, before someone’s scream broke the silence.

  ♦

  Jason and Trish rushed forward and leapt onto the metal pentagram as it slowed. Their helmet torches revealed a gruesome scene in the darkness. Sarah hung in limp suspension from the metal ring. Her clothing smoked with heat and her chest was bloodied and charred. Blood dripped from her palms and the soles of her boots had melted. The strange mechanism released the clamps holding her wrists and ankles, and Sarah’s body slumped onto the altar.

  Crying, Trish turned her over.

  Jason pulled back his friend’s eyelid. Her pupil was fixed and dilated and her iris shone with a purple sheen.

  ‘Sarah!’ Trish shook her friend. ‘SARAH!’

  Jason felt for a pulse then pushed Trish aside to begin CPR, but no sooner had he placed his hands on Sarah’s chest than a jolt of electricity shot through his hands. He yelped in pain.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Trish said.

  Jason tried again. Light sparked and another shock zapped through him. He swore and looked at his singed fingers.

  Trish touched Sarah’s scarred chest and snatched her hand back in pain. She looked at Jason in anguish. ‘Do something!’

  Jason saw the glint of metal beneath the congealed blood on Sarah’s chest. The pendant had sunk into her breastbone. He tilted her head back and breathed into her mouth.

  Trish held Sarah’s hand as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  ‘I’m not giving up on you, Sarah!’ Jason made a fist and delivered a precordial thump to her chest. Electricity flashed and pain lanced through his hand. ‘Do you hear me?! I won’t,’ – he thumped her again – ‘give up,’ – his fist fell again – ‘ON YOU!’

  He brought his fist down a fourth time and Trish grasped his arm. ‘Stop! STOP!’ She pressed two fingers to Sarah’s wrist. ‘I think I feel something.’

  Jason felt Sarah’s carotid artery and waited for a sign of life.

  None came, but as he gazed at his friend’s gruesome wounds a wave of energy flowed out from her chest. Trish shouted a warning and Jason leapt back.

  After the electricity had faded, he reached out a tentative hand and pulled back her eyelid once more. The pupil contracted under the glare of his helmet’s torches and the purple iris faded back to blue. Seconds later her chest expanded and settled into the rise and fall of shallow breath.

  He looked down in amazed, joyous relief. ‘She’s breathing!’

  ‘Her pulse is weak,’ Trish said, ‘very weak.’

  ‘What do we do?’

  Trish squeezed Sarah’s hand. ‘I don’t know. We need help.’

  ‘What do you need?’ said a voice.

  They looked up to see Goodwin standing close by, with Susan at his side and Commander Hilt just behind.

  ‘A doctor,’ Trish said, ‘and fast.’

  The ground trembled and Jason realised the altar was sinking.

  A flood of transparent fluid bubbled up from beneath the metal pentagram.

  ‘Move!’ Goodwin said.

  Jason picked Sarah up then cried out in pain. ‘My ankle!’

  Hilt rushed forward and scooped Sarah into his arms, and they ran from the crater.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Colonel Samson opened his eyes and let out a groan of pain. The last thing he remembered was plunging his sword into the chest of the S.I.L.V.E.R. assassin – Zhang Bai. He raised his armoured hand to see it blackened and charred. Pain throbbed through his body and he turned his head towards the staircase which led up to the colossal Anakim Sphinx.

  At the bottom of the steps, forty feet away, the still form of the chrome-clad assassin lay sprawled on the ground in a pool of her own blood.

  The mirrored visor on Zhang’s helmet slid up. Blood trickled from her mouth and her eyelids fluttered as her vision faded. Her arm was extended in his direction and her fingers unfurled to release a large sphere, which slid to the ground with a clunk. Samson watched in fascination as the object rolled towards him.

  Zhang Bai focused on him. ‘For … my … sister.’ Her hand dropped loose and her lungs exhaled their last shuddering breath.

  Samson looked at the metallic ball as it came to a stop near his head. A small display lit up on one side and his mind cleared, enabling him to figure out what he was looking at: digits counting down. His eyes widened in realisation. S.I.L.V.E.R. operatives always have redundancy!

  Samson reared up and scrambled for the high yield bomb. Grasping the device, he spun round to see the lattice of burning bridges spread out before him.

  He glimpsed the timer as he wound back his arm.

  FIVE SECONDS!

  Samson launched the device into the air.

  The bomb arrowed out into the dark, cleared the flames and disappeared into the abyss beyond. Seconds ticked by before a distant detonation shook the ground. A sudden rush of light erupted upward and Samson staggered back.

  A deep rumbling sound grew louder and stronger. Cracks crisscrossed through the stone beneath his feet and up onto the sphinx’s stairway.

  A terrifying sight reflected in Samson’s visor as the earthquake struck. The fiery walkways collapsed in every direction, and beyond them the standing stones toppled as water seethed into the basin.

  There was no escape!

  He turned and sprinted up the splintering steps towards the sphinx’s entrance. But as he ran his visor showed structural warnings in all directions. The cracks extended up onto the sphinx’s body and widened.

  He ran faster.

  The stairs flashed past and Samson saw the entrance ahead.

  Great rents appeared in the sphinx’s face and chunks of masonry thumped down around him. Samson glanced up as the giant Anakim head sheared free and plummeted towards him. He snarled in defiance as death approached, and dived forward. The monument smashed down through the stone staircase, obliterating everything in its path. A cloud of dust billowed up and the shaking increased.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Goodwin waded through transparent fluid, up out of the crater and onto solid ground. Hilt emerged alongside him, carrying Sarah’s limp form, while the Englishwoman’s two friends, with Susan in tow, joined them moments later. Behind them, the pentagram and altar had long since been immersed in the rising tide, leaving a rippling covering that slowly solidified. The Pharos were nowhere to be seen, but the calm didn’t last for long as a distant tremor set the ground vibrating. Goodwin turned on his torch to see debris and dust sifting down from above.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Jason said.

  Goodwin wasn’t sure. He stood frozen in place, listening.

  The silver statue, still glowing with the residue of energy, rocked on its golden throne. Cracks appeared in the crystal wall and then the ground lurched violently.

  ‘Earthquake!’ Goodwin grabbed Susan’s hand and made for the exit, but through the mists he could see pillars toppling to the ground in all directions. Skidding to a stop, he ran back the other way.

  ‘Where are you going?!’ Jason said.

  ‘This way.’ Goodwin waved them on. ‘The whole place is coming down!’

  Goodwin ran past Rebecca’s frozen alcove and the fracturing crystal, and on up a slope.

  Massive statues toppled to the ground, explod
ing in showers of shattered stone. Someone screamed, but Goodwin kept running.

  Seconds later three statues loomed through the dark, their Anakim forms still kneeling before a pewter frieze.

  Goodwin hauled Susan down onto shadowy, oversized stairs. Steps flew by and Goodwin ran on. They reached a tunnel and splashed through shallow water. The ground continued to tremble. The beam from his flashlight rose and fell, and a crack appeared in the ceiling and raced ahead like a runaway train. The stone floor groaned and sagged. Goodwin jumped over a growing fissure, with Susan following.

  He glanced back. Sarah’s friends followed, and close behind them ran Hilt with Sarah in his arms.

  Ploughing on, Goodwin saw light ahead. Another Anakim staircase loomed and they dashed up into a growing blue radiance.

  As they burst out into fresh air, the ground buckled and broke. Susan stumbled and Goodwin fell towards a wall of flame.

  ♦

  Jason ran for his life as the earthquake gained momentum. A gaping hole appeared before him. Unable to avoid it, he leapt out into mid-air. An instant later he landed, but his ankle buckled and he slammed into the ground. Lava spewed forth from behind and the ground tilted up. He scrabbled forward, but the incline increased, forcing him towards molten rock.

  ‘Jason!’

  He looked round to see a hand appear through the steam. He reached out and grabbed it and Trish hauled him to safety and then helped him into a run.

  Susan and Goodwin reappeared alongside and the Steadfast director pointed towards the blue glow. ‘Keep going, the transportation device is close!’

  Jason didn’t need telling twice, and they ran on with Hilt hot on their heels.

  Soon after, they passed between two standing stones and moved down into a basin lined with shining, blue crystal. Rattling down translucent steps, they reached the bottom which was filled with mounds of compacted soil.

  Goodwin ran over to an oblong megalith wreathed in symbols and pointed at a circle indented in its surface. ‘Your Anakim device.’

  Jason rushed to examine it, but his elation was short lived as he looked around, frantic. ‘Where’s the platform?!’

  ‘What?’ Goodwin said.

  ‘This isn’t a transport device, there’s no platform!’

  ‘There must be!’ Trish said and ran round the bowl-shaped depression, searching.

  ♦

  With care, Hilt lay Sarah down on the ground while Goodwin looked around in confusion. Hilt’s back ached and his soul was weary. He’d lost too many people, far too many; Major Offiah, Rebecca, Joseph, hundreds of operatives under his command. He wondered if Darklight had ever witnessed a darker hour.

  While the earth shook around them and Sarah’s friends dug for God knows what in the dirt, something touched his hand. He looked down to see Sarah’s arm drop back to the ground and he crouched down beside her.

  She said something and he leant closer.

  ‘Ri – ley?’ she whispered.

  He held her hand and shook his head.

  ‘I’m sorry … about Rebecca, I—’ Sarah fought for breath. ‘I wasn’t able … to … save her.’

  ‘I know,’ he said as her eyes fluttered closed, ‘try to rest.’ He looked round as the crystal stairs fractured and collapsed. ‘It’ll all be over soon.’

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Jason stared at Goodwin in despair. ‘You said it was here, you said there was a transportation device!’ He lashed out with a foot, sending a clump of earth flying.

  ‘I thought there was,’ Goodwin said, looking equally dismayed.

  The ground’s shuddering intensified and a nearby mound of sediment vibrated down to reveal more of a large, bronze globe positioned in the centre of the basin.

  ‘What’s that?’ Trish said, pointing at it.

  Jason saw something glinting beneath the sediment at its base and he scrambled forward to dig away at the dirt with his hands. Trish joined him and they’d soon revealed Goodwin’s promise: a large, ceramic platform.

  Jason gestured for Hilt to bring Sarah over. ‘Put her here,’ he said as the Darklight leader picked her up.

  The earth lurched again and giant standing stones crashed down into the basin. Crystal exploded and blue shrapnel lanced out.

  Jason snatched up a glowing shard and moved towards the circle device before looking at Trish. ‘Get on the platform.’

  ‘I’m not leaving you!’

  ‘Get on the damn platform!’

  ‘No!’ Trish picked up another piece of crystal and lunged for the megalith.

  Jason leapt forward and dragged her kicking and screaming to Sarah’s side.

  The whole world shook and Trish kept fighting.

  ‘Let me go,’ he said, ‘or we’ll all die!’

  Breaking her hold, he turned to see Goodwin standing by the Anakim device.

  The Steadfast director picked up a large chunk of crystal. ‘Tell Sarah … tell her goodbye.’

  Dumbfounded, Jason nodded as Trish pulled him back to the platform.

  ‘Sir,’ Hilt said, ‘what are you doing?’

  ‘Get Susan on the device, Commander,’ Goodwin said. ‘You as well, that’s an order.’

  Hilt guided Susan over to Trish before moving back to his director’s side.

  Goodwin held the Darklight leader’s gaze. The man’s loyalty knew no bounds. He gave Hilt a nod before muttering, ‘I hope this works.’

  Goodwin placed his hand on the stone circle and a swirl of energy swept around his arm. Strange visions flashed before his eyes of Anakim worlds shifting through time. Pain throbbed through his head and white radiance flared. The globe shuddered and inched into rotation with a shriek of metal on metal. Eon’s worth of compacted earth tumbled to the ground and the transportation platform rose up half a foot.

  Four more platforms emerged from the dirt floor around the globe as soil vibrated from their long hidden surfaces, but the slab beneath their feet stayed dull.

  ‘It’s not working!’ Trish said.

  The bronze globe spun faster and turned translucent, and Jason saw a static circle shimmering beneath its rippling surface. His grip tightened on the crystal still in his possession and he reached out his other hand through liquid metal.

  ♦

  Goodwin’s hand released from the megalith as the transport device continued its activation. A shining blue light lit up around the platform’s edge, growing brighter and stronger as the globe whizzed round.

  One side of the crystal basin sagged down into seething lava and a crack opened up in the ground. Susan slipped from Trish’s grasp and leapt over the widening fissure to return to Goodwin’s side. The split in the earth grew bigger, cutting off any route back to the platform.

  Sarah’s friends gazed back at them through the haze of shimmering heat, knowing as well as Goodwin that his fate, like Susan’s and Hilt’s, was sealed.

  Lava oozed from the ground and searing flames roared high. The ground shifted and rocked. A whoosh of steam forced Goodwin back, and Sarah and her friends momentarily disappeared from view.

  Goodwin remembered something. ‘Wait!’ he called out, but it was too late, they couldn’t hear him.

  He stared at them through raging fire. ‘The surface,’ Goodwin said, holding Susan close as the lava closed in, ‘it’s not safe.’ He looked round to see the entire front of the sphinx collapse in a pall of dust and flame. ‘The apocalypse is coming.’

  Chapter Sixty

  The giant globe continued to spin with light, but Sarah and her friends remained on the platform.

  ‘Why isn’t it working?’ Goodwin murmured.

  More of the basin collapsed behind him to reveal a thin strip of land that disappeared into laval heat.

  Hilt saw the opportunity and grabbed Goodwin’s arm. ‘Let’s go!’

  The Darklight leader scooped up Susan and ran for it, and Goodwin gave one last despairing look at Sarah and followed Hilt into the inferno.

  ♦

  Jaso
n watched Goodwin go before looking down at the glowing shard in his hand. He could feel power rising up from the crystal, through his arm and into the spinning globe.

  ‘We don’t know where it’ll take us!’ Trish said.

  Huge rents shattered the basin in all directions.

  ‘Anywhere’s better than here!’ Jason looked down to see the platform’s centre remained dull. ‘We need more power.’

  Trish placed her hand on his, but nothing changed.

  Sarah’s eyes fluttered open and she raised her hand to them.

  ‘It will kill you!’ Trish said.

  The ground collapsed all around as the quake hit. Heat flooded over them and Sarah raised her hand higher.

  Jason stared into her eyes, a tear rolled down his cheek and he dropped his crystal.

  ‘NO!’ Trish screamed.

  Jason grasped Sarah’s hand. The platform they stood on swirled bright, as did the next, and the next, until all five shone like stars. The pendant in Sarah’s chest glowed white and a high-pitched whine built to a crescendo. The globe turned colour, spinning so fast it looked static. It was planet Earth. The power whined louder. Trish cried out. Energy surged and Jason felt himself propelled upwards through blazing light.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Sarah and her friends vanished in a flash of brilliance. Their platform’s glow faded, and an instant later two more platforms flashed, then dulled in quick succession. The earth gave a final groan and the Anakim device shattered and broke, consumed by the cataclysm.

  ♦

  Goodwin ran after Hilt as the ground rocked and rolled beneath their feet. A sea of lava surrounded them and sweat poured down their foreheads as the unbearable heat increased. The escape route petered out and Hilt slowed his advance to a stop.