Revenant

by Fergal F. Nally

  The girls looked at each other and lowered their eyes.

  “Rurik, showed you didn’t he?”

  The sisters nodded and looked miserable, Rurik was their friend and protector. They felt they had betrayed him.

  Kate looked up. “Rurik taught us the skill because father asked him to. Father couldn’t teach us, he didn’t have the heart to. Don’t take it out on Rurik mother, please.”

  Kate’s words sunk into Liliana’s heart. Kate was the more outspoken of the two girls and would stand up for fairness, speaking out against injustice, she took after her father. Liliana was both proud and furious with her daughters and with Thomas. Her absent Thomas.

  “I knew nothing of this, why didn’t you tell me? We’re family, we tell each other these things.” She was ashamed her daughters felt they could not share something as important as this with her, but she also understood.

  Eveline leant forwards and took her mother’s hand. “It was done with love, mother. Father wanted to spare you the pain. It was done with love, he had a broken heart when he left us. At least he knew we were able to look after ourselves.”

  Liliana felt tears on her face. Silent tears were the deepest, the ones that appeared effortlessly. The world was lost, she was angry for its pain and lonely for her Thomas. She held out her arms, embracing her daughters, rocking them back and forward.

  After a few moments Liliana released her children. “There is another way girls. A woman’s way, less violent than a man’s, also honourable. Mothers have taught this way to their daughters for generations. Liliana reached into the purse at her waist and took out a small wooden container. She unscrewed the lid and showed the girls what lay within.

  “The seeds of the mistress plant,” Liliana spoke, her voice soft. She could not quite believe she was showing her two lovely daughters how to take their lives. It had to be done and done with love, just like Eveline had said.

  “Poison!” Eveline’s voice was breathless, her eyes wide.

  “Does it hurt, mother? How does it work?” Kate asked.

  “The mistress is not crude, nor violent. Once you swallow her seed, she reaches for your heart and holds your breath in her arms like an embrace. You fall down into her soft warmth, sleep takes you.” Liliana chose her words carefully.

  “Except you don’t wake up from this sleep,” Kate said matter-of-factly.

  “Except you don’t wake up, that’s right, my love. Not in this world anyway. The next thing you know you’ll be surrounded by your ancestors and those who’ve gone before, in the hall of light and feasting. All will be well, we’ll be together again. I’ll get containers for you to put in your purses, you must keep it with you at all times. Promise me you’ll do this, for me, for your father.”

  The two girls nodded and embraced their mother. Outside they heard the distant rumble of thunder. Heavy drops of rain came down the chimney, sizzling on the fire. A storm was brewing far out at sea, to the west.

  Liliana prayed the storm would not waken the Kraken.

  Chapter 36: Halvdan’s Walk

  Halvdan recognised Central Park Zoo.

  He walked through the gates and noticed the deserted cages, their doors open. Unease swept over him. He walked through the zoo and found the first body; a young mother with a pram, her arms thrown up around her face, as if in self-defence. The rest of her torso was a bloody mess, puncture marks evident along her side and legs.

  He found other bodies, dozens of them. Men, women and children, dead where they fell, some partially eaten, others untouched. He was unnerved, on edge, it felt like a movie set. He stopped and looked at the penguin enclosure, the water had drained away, the pool was dirty, leaves and litter clogging the outflow drains.

  Halvdan stared, not quite believing what he saw. Then he heard drums. He turned round and walked back towards the Mall. He reached its wide expanse and looked along its length, a crowd was gathered at the end, milling around the Bethesda Fountain. An overwhelming sense of dread erupted within him, he felt drawn towards the crowd.

  The drums grew louder, he saw smoke in the air coming from a huge bonfire at the base of the fountain; its water long gone. The Angel of the Waters stared down at the gathered crowd, wings outstretched as if about to fly from the horror below. Halvdan neared the edge of the crowd, six people were chained to the statue. Great piles of burning wood lay at their feet, smoke and flames reaching for their flesh.

  The stench of burning bodies filled the air, the chained prisoners screamed for mercy. The drumming reached a crescendo and stopped. A man in a black suit and dog collar stood up on a platform in front of the crowd and raised his hands. Halvdan looked at the faces of those closest to him, they were entranced, fixated on the man at the podium.

  The crowd chanted. “Koheleth, Koheleth, preacher, lead us to the light, guide us through the cleansing flame.”

  Halvdan stared in dread at the spectacle unfolding before him. The preacher raised his hands for silence, the crowd held its breath.

  A strong voice came from his throat, firm, assured. Mesmerising.

  “For the Lord will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

  The preacher paused for effect then continued.

  “And I looked and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with beasts of the earth.”

  The crowd let out a low grown as if the preacher’s words had elevated them to ecstasy, to enlightenment.

  “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

  The flames behind the preacher rose and engulfed the chained prisoners, the Angel of the Waters was obscured by smoke and sparks.

  The earth trembled beneath their feet, Halvdan staggered just managing to keep his balance. Screams came from the crowd, people surged around him running away from the preacher and the fountain. The earth was rapidly subsiding at the foot of the podium; a vast sinkhole appeared overtaking some of the fleeing crowd, pulling them in.

  He looked at the preacher whose arms were raised, his mouth open, his teeth absurdly white. His voice was a droning dirge and from his mouth burst a cloud of flies, swarming around his head, coating his body.

  Halvdan looked at the sinkhole which was spreading towards him, he gasped and took a step back. Undead soldiers were emerging from the sinkhole, crawling and climbing out of its depths. He recognised their raiment; the same enemy he had faced back at New Haven. The necromancers’ army of death had appeared in this world, in New York.

  He turned and ran, fleeing down the Mall with the others, his mind racing. Shiel had left him to take on the northern necromancer army, saying that he would defend New Haven’s eastern walls. Shiel had mentioned a new magic he was to use; this had to be it. Somehow Shiel had diverted the eastern army to this dimension.

  He ran down the Mall towards East Drive, around him people were screaming, running. He reached Scholar’s Gate and looked out over Grand Army Plaza and Fifth Avenue.

  Halvdan ran for his life. He ran like never before, crossing the street, making for the ruined Plaza Hotel.

  For charging up Fifth Avenue he had seen a horde of infected; diseased survivors of the bioweapon that had destroyed his world. His mind tried to process the information but survival came first and he fled.

  He reached the hotel’s front entrance, the doors were open, broken glass everywhere. A newspaper lay on the floor, its headlines assaulted his eyes.

  “Thousands die as virus takes control of city. Marshal Law declared.”

  He read down the page feeling his chest tighten. A world pandemic had spread in a matter of weeks, countless millions had died, governments and states had failed. Civilisation as it had been, was swept away. He looked at the date; a year after he had disappeared from the veteran’s h
ospital.

  How could this have happened?

  He looked at his hands, they were shaking badly. From outside he heard the sound of fighting. He saw an ornate staircase and took it, bounding up two steps at a time. The noise from the street receded slightly, he searched and found service stairs off to one side, he continued up them on a wave of adrenaline.

  After seven floors he stopped, breathless and left the stairwell. He found himself in a long corridor lined with bedrooms. He went to the first door and tried the handle; locked.

  He went to the next door which was ajar and entered. The room was empty, he crossed to the window and looked at the street below. The undead from Central Park had poured out onto Grand Army Plaza and were locked in combat with New York’s infected. Halvdan watched in horror as the two forces fought one another ferociously. Weapons, blades, teeth and nails were being used with devastating effect.

  The combatants fought with frenzied bloodlust. At first the infected seemed overwhelmed at the onslaught from the park, they were pushed back, down Fifth Avenue. Then Halvdan saw more infected running from the Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue. Thousands of New York’s infected swept across the street and clashed with the necromancer’s army at Scholar’s Gate.

  Halvdan watched transfixed at the ebb and flow of the battle. The tide turned after ten minutes. The sheer numbers of infected emerging from the city’s streets tipped the balance. The necromancer army was pushed back into Central Park, up the Mall. Halvdan needed a better view, he returned to the stairs and ran up another six floors, entering the first room he came to. He looked out the window across Central Park.

  He saw the two armies locked in combat all along the Mall, however something else took his attention. He gripped the windowsill and watched as the sinkhole widened into a huge rent in the earth, sucking half the Mall into its depths. The rear section of the necromancer army disappeared into the sinkhole and the infected horde pressing forwards from the city was also pulled towards its hungry mouth.

  In the end the two armies were dragged into the sinkhole, its oily darkness shimmering in the cold winter sunlight. A few stragglers were left behind on the streets, an uneasy quiet descended on the city.

  Halvdan collapsed to the floor speechless and sat, staring at the dusty bedroom carpet. A few minutes later he heard footsteps approaching the room, a familiar voice rang out.

  “Halvdan, Halvdan come out! We have work do, a terrible wrong needs to be righted!”

  Halvdan looked up as Shiel, Mage of Sorrows walked into the room.

  Chapter 37: Clovenstone

  Jack looked at Tig. “No, fighting fire with a bigger one leads to disaster.”

  “A bigger fire,” Sabine chipped in.

  They sat in silence contemplating what had happened and what they knew.

  “We’re running out of time,” Raven said finally. “We need to find this Clovenstone and soon.”

  “We’re going to have to wait until morning,” Sabine replied.

  “First light is at least six hours away,” Jack added.

  Tig had wandered off and was studying the ground in the distance. He shouted. “Over here! You need to see this.”

  They gathered around Tig in the starlight and looked at the ground. A large metallic tube projected from the ground. It looked worn, scorch marks were evident on its surface.

  “What is it?” Sabine asked. “It looks very old.”

  “It’s ancient,” Raven said, running her hands over its surface.

  “It’s a hatch of some sort.” Jack added, dropping to his knees. His hands went to the hatch, his fingers probed around its edges looking for some purchase, a handle. “There’s no way to open it. Can you see anything? Anything that looks… linked to this?” his voice carried a hint of desperation.

  “Well I think it’s the Clovenstone,” Tig announced. “There’s that funny shaped rock over there.” He pointed at a nearby formation. “That’s what caught my eye first, then I noticed this,” he indicated the hatch.

  Jack went to examine the rock. “This isn’t rock, it’s metal… it’s been melted. Look, see how it’s liquefied on this side.” He pointed to patterns within the object. “This side isn’t too bad. Whatever melted it must’ve come from that direction a very long time ago,” he pointed to the shore.

  “That’s the way we came. New Haven’s back that way,” Sabine said.

  Jack froze. “They couldn’t have…” he said aloud. “The idiots… how could they?” His face looked dazed, lost, his hands hung limp at his side. “The idiots.”

  “What happened? What are you saying?” Sabine asked.

  Raven looked at Jack’s face, her eyes glowing in the starlight. “There was a war, wasn’t there?”

  Jack nodded, his eyes lost in thought.

  Raven continued, scrutinising him. “It was a war of cold anger. Total war…” she stated reading his eyes.

  Jack looked up. “A cold war, yes. It was the cold war, they brought it back. Peace wasn’t enough for them. They had to bring back the cold war, resurrect it. The bastards.”

  Tig pressed and pushed the unmelted side of the metal object. He let out a low whistle, they heard a distinct click from the direction of the hatch. “Hah! Knew it! Thought I felt a depression in the surface. A switch, clever how they concealed that. But I’ve seen plenty similar in the city… hidden switches I mean.”

  They rushed over to the hatch, it had opened in two sections revealing a shaft.

  “The ancients were a mysterious people,” Raven commented. “Nothing’s known about them, hardly anything survives from their time except the odd artefact.”

  Dim lights illuminated the shaft, which dropped vertically into the earth. A ladder ran down one side of the shaft. The hatch was wide enough to admit one person. They looked at each other.

  “I’ll go first,” Tig offered.

  Jack stepped forwards. “No Tig, it’s ok. I’ll go, after all, these were my people.”

  Tig looked confused but did not speak, he shrugged instead.

  “We’ll follow you, after all, this is what we came for. Forcan said we’d find answers here, so we’re in this together,” Sabine said.

  “Well then, let’s do it.” Jack lowered himself into the hatch, clinging to the ladder. He nodded at the others and started his descent.

  When he had gone far enough Sabine, Raven and Tig followed. Tig looked up at the stars wondering if he would ever see them again.

  Jack counted the rungs but gave up after three hundred. He continued down carefully. After ten minutes his hands and legs were aching, he kept going and after a further ten minutes his feet hit concrete.

  “Reached the bottom!” he shouted to the others. A tunnel stretched out ahead. He noticed lights were flickering and absent in places. Jack helped Sabine down, then turned to continue his way along the tunnel.

  He heard Sabine helping Raven, then Tig from the shaft behind him, but his eyes were glued to what lay ahead. The tunnel stretched out in the distance as far as he could see. He was sweating, the temperature had risen significantly compared to the surface. He was amazed at how deep underground they were.

  His foot caught on something, he looked down to see a hatch similar to the one on the surface. He glanced around for a switch and saw a depression in the wall to his right. He placed his hand over it and felt an indentation. He pressed. The hatch swung open, he saw a smooth floor below; a room.

  He looked back, the others had nearly caught up with him.

  “I’m going down there. Wait until I give the signal, I want to make sure it’s all clear.” Without waiting, Jack lowered himself through the hatch and dropped to the floor below. He was in a dimly lit, empty room. He saw a set of doors and a control panel. He nodded to Sabine in the tunnel above and she slipped down through the hatch followed by the others.

  “What do you make of this?” Sabine asked.

  “It’s a military installation of some description,” Jack replied. “There mig
ht be some strange sights, just to warn you.”

  Sabine and Raven nodded. Tig looked at him wide eyed.

  “Will there be any sorcery?” Tig asked, a concerned look on his face.

  Jack considered his answer. “Not of the kind you’ll know Tig. My advice is don’t touch anything, do you understand? I’m afraid that applies to you too, Sabine, Raven.”

  They nodded at him and he turned to face the door. He placed his hand on the control panel, the double doors opened effortlessly. A corridor and another set of double doors lay ahead.

  They passed through the next set of doors and came to a larger room surrounded by glass and metal walls. A decontamination chamber? Jack asked himself.

  He went straight to the control panel and placed his hand on it expecting nothing but was surprised to see the doors open for him. On the far side they found rubberised protective suits and other specialised clothing.

  The others watched Jack, following his every step. They went through a series of rooms deeper into the complex. After twenty minutes they came across the first body. The remains had mummified in the dry atmosphere, the corpse’s skin was still intact, stretched like parchment over the underlying bones.

  Jack looked at the name tag on the uniform. “ANDREWS” was emblazoned above the left breast pocket. Around the corpse’s neck hung a swipe card.

  Jack took the card and went through the next set of doors using the card in the lock. Lights blinked on automatically as they entered a large circular room. Rows of tables and glass screens were spread out on the level below. More bodies lay mummified on the floor. Jack counted four corpses, male and female, all uniformed.

  What a place to die, Jack thought. Maybe it was better to die quickly on the surface, not to have to endure this underground tomb instead. He wondered how long these people had been below ground before they died. Had they been trapped for days, hours or years? He shuddered.

  “What is this place? It feels like… a temple. Look, those walls are flickering, just like Forcan said. Do you think he made it down here?” Sabine’s voice echoed through the chamber.