From the Mouth of Elijah

by Bryan Davis

  Semiramis’s spasms finally settled. “Help me,” she said, lifting a hand.

  After Matt helped her stand and steady herself, he looked her over. Rips in her camo uniform exposed gory scratches on her shoulders and arms, though her dripping hair partially covered some of the wounds. Maybe she slammed into shallow water and scraped herself on the lakebed.

  Still holding the jacket over his nose and mouth, he set his free hand on the dagger’s hilt. “Do you have any idea where we are?”

  As she scanned the devastation, her eyes widened. “Arramos! That cunning serpent!”

  “Arramos? You mentioned that name to Walter.”

  “He is a dragon, Satan himself. I knew he had plans for destruction, but this?” She shook her head. “I am appalled at his malice, though by now I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  A stiff wind from the lake pushed the fumes toward the volcano, cleansing the immediate area. Matt lowered his jacket and breathed freely. Although still carrying a burning flavor, the air seemed safe. “What do you mean?”

  She slid her filter down, draped it over her shoulder, and sniffed. Apparently satisfied that the air was safe, she lifted her tresses, revealing a deep gouge in her other shoulder. “I will trade information for your healing touch. I know you healed your mother with skin-to-skin contact.”

  Matt concealed a cringe. Touching this woman might feel like licking a toad, but the information could be worth it. Using the dagger, he sliced away part of her filter, dipped the rag in the water, and dabbed the shoulder wound. “I might be crazy to help you, but go ahead and talk. I’ll see what I can do with this cut.”

  “Healing is in your heart, not just your hands.” Her smile seemed almost genuine. “It is who you are.”

  “Fine. Whatever.” After wiping away ashen grime, he massaged the wound with a bare fingertip. “Just tell me what you know.”

  “First …” She winced at the pressure. “First, you must understand that the enemy we’re dealing with is as old as the Earth itself. His schemes run far deeper than you can imagine, and his goals are not what you might expect.”

  Using the rag again, he swabbed the wound. Although the pressure raised some blood, the cut appeared to be sealing. “Well, I thought maybe his goals were falling apart. At least it looked like Lauren was protected from the lava in time, and the dragons were winning the battle.”

  Semiramis half closed an eye. “Did you really think winning that pathetic battle was the goal? Was Arramos really concerned about keeping Bonnie in prison? Oh, yes, Satan was curious about her genetics, so he arranged laboratory experiments to investigate, though he likely understood more about her components than any mortal could ever discover.” She laughed. “You must admit that is a humorous proposition.”

  Matt stopped the massage. “Get to the point. I’m not in a laughing mood.”

  “Very well.” While Matt continued sealing the cut, Semiramis spread her arm toward the volcano. “Take in the lovely scenery while I explain.”

  “And skip the theatrics, too.”

  Semiramis crossed her arms and smirked. “Well, well. Testy, aren’t we?”

  He jabbed a finger at her. “Just can it! I’m not a stupid kid who can’t recognize manipulation. My sister used to …” He bit his lip. That was revealing too much.

  “Ah!” Semiramis nodded slowly. “I understand now. A man who has been stabbed with a blade of treachery is the quickest to recognize its glimmer, especially when it is wielded by a woman. I will remember this sensitivity and avoid rubbing salt in the wound.”

  Matt looked away, grumbling, “You sound like the villain in a bad novel I read last week.”

  “You’re a reader? I thought you were a fighter, the macho type who reads only the sports page.”

  Matt forced himself to stay calm. Too many of his barracks mates were exactly as she described, giving everyone in his company a bad reputation. No sense arguing about it now, though. “You’d be surprised.”

  “I’ll take your word for it and move along.” Semiramis cleared her throat. “Elam was worried that Tamiel was using your mother as bait to capture Lauren so he could harness her ability to find the purity ovulum. Then, when you saw that the prison was anticipating an attack from Second Eden, you decided that the entire plot was to kill Elam, Sapphira, and the dragons. Am I correct?”

  “Well … yeah.” He rubbed the edge of the cut, stopping a trickle of blood. “It seemed pretty obvious.”

  She stared straight into his eyes. “We checked on you, Matt. You have been trained in military combat strategy, and you excelled in war simulations. Tell me, why might an enemy intentionally draw as many of its opponents’ troops and weapons to a battlefield?”

  Looking past her, Matt imagined a similar scenario in the academy’s war games. His team sent scouts in the opposite direction that their unit actually marched. The diversion worked perfectly, leaving the opposition’s base open. “So the enemy could attack a place that’s left unguarded.”

  “Exactly. Second Eden sent most of its finest warriors, dragons and humans alike, to do battle at a remote prison in northern Arizona. Of course, we had to set up an advanced weapons system in order to make it look like our reason to draw them there was to destroy them, but Arramos is not so foolish as to think the greatest dragons would be so easily defeated. He is a dragon. He knows their power. If we had defeated them, all the better, but I’m sure you wondered why our defenses were so ill prepared. For example, the laser battery was never fully manned. Did you seriously think that removing the control gloves could stop one of my son’s weapons? Not only that, the guards who fought within the ring of fire were poorly trained, and the reinforcements were delayed.”

  “I thought the problems were because the blizzard—”

  “The blizzard?” As dark flakes collected on her head, her voice grew animated. “Honestly, Matt, do you think that bad weather could foil the plans of Satan? Haven’t you heard that he is the prince of the power of the air? The blizzard was a ruse. The weather conditions masked the poor preparation and incompetence of the prison personnel. If not for the blizzard, a wise general like Elam would have seen right through the façade. In fact, I think he was suspicious. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he and the dragons are even now hurrying away to Second Eden, assuming they have secured their victory.”

  Matt replayed the events in his mind. It did seem as if the dragons and their company routed their more modern opponents easily, maybe too easily. And if the reinforcements were so late in coming, maybe never even arriving at all, could Captain Boone have known all along? Might his friendliness have been part of the ploy? “Okay. I grant your point.”

  “So you must have concluded that Arramos’s real target was Second Eden, a direct assault.”

  “Makes sense. But why? And how?”

  She bent her brow, surveying the devastation again. “This I don’t know. Arramos knows I hate him, so he never divulged his ultimate plan or motivation. I suspected the diversion, but, of course, I couldn’t tell Elam.”

  “You played along so you could get Lauren.”

  Semiramis replied in a lilting singsong. “’Tis true. I admit to coveting Lauren’s gift.”

  Matt growled. “I should have left you to boil.”

  “And then you would be lost here.” Semiramis patted his cheek. “Oh, Matt, you are such a heroic young man. You did the right thing, and you need not worry about your sister. Although I care nothing for Elam or the dragons, I will protect Lauren to the death. She is essential for my plan to restore myself and my son. Just trust me.”

  Matt looked her in the eye. With auburn hair and angular features, she appeared to be an older version of Darcy. “I’d just as soon trust a drunken Nazi.”

  “And you complain about my theatrics.” Semiramis let out a humming laugh. “It’s a good thing you’re stuck with me. It’s the only way you’ll learn to trust me.”

  “Stuck with you? Why?
”

  “Because we’re here.” She extended a hand toward the volcano. “We are in Second Eden.”

  Matt let his gaze shift from the smoking mountain to the burning stacks of debris in the deforested landscape. “I got the impression Second Eden was like a paradise. This place is … well … a disaster zone.”

  “It looks very little like it did before, but this is why I am sure of where we are.” She intertwined her fingers. “I am completely solid. On Earth I was immaterial until a portal to Second Eden opened, and now that they are all likely closed again, I am still solid, proving that we stand in Second Eden, such as it is.” She nodded toward the volcano. “That is Mount Elijah. Although it has blown off its cone, I recognize the shape of its slopes. Elam imprisoned me in this region for more than fifteen years, so I know it well. I felt many tremors during the latter part of my captivity, giving me reason to believe that Mount Elijah would soon awaken from its dormancy. There is a superstition regarding what causes it to erupt. I shudder to think that someone might have fallen in.”

  “It erupts if someone falls in?”

  “As I said, it’s a superstition, but the image is chilling all the same.”

  Matt shivered in spite of the rising heat. During the battle, many guards were swept into the crater, but that couldn’t really trigger an eruption. “So you want revenge against Elam for imprisoning you. That’s why you allied yourself with Arramos.”

  “My disdain for Elam doesn’t compare with my hatred for Arramos. The self-important serpent brutally tortured my son and permanently maimed him, and I will do anything to kill that beast. That’s why I long to be restored. In my present state, I have little power, but if I were to become what I once was, I could do battle with him.” Looking again at the volcano, she let her shoulders sag. “I thought I knew what he was up to, but his plans were more diabolical than I realized. He didn’t mean to conquer Second Eden with Earth’s military; he meant to destroy it.”

  Matt blinked at the falling ash. “So, if Arramos is powerful enough to make a blizzard, why did he have to draw Elam and the dragons to the prison? If he made this volcano explode, why didn’t he do it while everyone was in Second Eden and kill them all in one stroke?”

  “You ask good questions, and I have already pondered them myself. Although Arramos has great power in your world, he has little to no influence in Second Eden. My guess is that he used someone here to gain access to the volcano, and he or she could not get that access until the warriors were gone.”

  Matt nodded. An inside job. But who among the Second Edeners would be that treacherous? And who could cause a volcano to explode? If Semiramis had been in Second Eden, she would have been the obvious choice, but she was on Earth the whole time.

  His muscle aches eased, and the sting from the cut in his throat lessened, though it throbbed enough to bring fresh reminders of this witch’s malevolence. Using her to figure out what was going on would be nauseating, but there seemed to be no choice. Maybe playing along would cause her to spill more information, though trying to beat her at her own game could be risky.

  Semiramis touched the gash on her shoulder. “I feel much better. Your healing powers are remarkable.”

  “That’s good. … I suppose.”

  She slid her hand into his. Her touch seemed electric, but he forced himself not to jerk away. “Matt, we need to work together. Will you decide to trust me?”

  “Well …” Pretending to be her friend would be like holding hands with a demoness, but it might be worth it. He returned the grasp, refusing to cringe. “I guess we won’t survive any other way, will we?”

  Her smile thinned into a barely visible line. “I see that your training included pragmatism. We do what we must to survive. And don’t worry about my desire to find Lauren. As I said, it’s in my best interests to protect her.”

  “At this point, I don’t have much choice.”

  “Well, let me provide you with a piece of information that might make it an easier choice.” She compressed his hand. “I assume you know about Tamiel.”

  “I do. What about him?”

  “He is Arramos’s number one henchman. Because of his alliance with the devil, Tamiel is powerful, cruel, and murderous. Yet, he has one weakness, and I will tell you about it to enhance your trust in me.”

  “So I can use the weakness against him?”

  “No, Matt, not at all. I am telling you so that you will be sure to prevent that weakness from being exploited.”

  Squinting, Matt shook his head. “Now you’re not making any sense.”

  “Am I not?” Semiramis released his hand and grasped his chin. Her expression suddenly shifted to a serious aspect. “Matt Bannister, hear me now. The real reason I am telling you this is because I want Lauren kept alive. Since my motivations are selfish, maybe you will believe me. If Lauren touches Tamiel with skin-to-skin contact, he and she will both die.” She let go of his chin. “That is his only weakness, and they both know about it.”

  Matt studied Semiramis’s eyes. She definitely seemed sincere, and the selfish motivation agreed with known facts. Yet, why hadn’t Lauren mentioned Tamiel’s weakness?

  “Okay. Telling me that does help.” He began marching in place in the water. With the heat scalding his skin, they had to get moving. “What do we do now?”

  Semiramis turned her head slowly, scanning the lava field. “We have to find shelter where we can talk safely. Another shift in the wind, and we’ll be dead. We’re lucky to be alive as it is.”

  “Where do you propose that we go?”

  She pointed toward the volcano. “The Valley of Shadows lies well to the left of the mountain. It is encircled by highlands, which should have protected it from lava and flying rocks and perhaps even the poisonous fumes. If this lake is merely an expansion of the river that once flowed into that valley, we could follow the current downstream and find safety. Even if the volcano’s fumes are there, the valley has Keelvar leaves, which provide a natural filter.”

  Matt fixed his gaze on her and tried to mimic her sincere expression. It seemed that they hoped to deceive each other, and they both saw through the veils. It would be almost impossible to out-con this con woman, especially while trusting her guidance. Yet, enemy combatants could work together for a while to save themselves, even if they planned to kill each other later.

  He nodded. “Lead the way.”

  “Very well.” She picked up his shirt from her shoulder. “And thank you for this. You could have suffocated me with it.”

  Several sarcastic replies shot through Matt’s mind, but he let them fade. With another nod, he said, “I hope I made the right choice.”

  Smiling, she walked parallel to the shore in knee-deep water. “You won’t regret this, Matt. Your trust, as fragile as it is, in spite of all that I have done to you, proves your character as a noble warrior who would never hold a grudge against a defeated enemy, especially when we have a common enemy, the enemy of all souls, the devil himself.”

  As Matt walked next to her in the hot water, he pushed aside logs along the way. Her boot-licking praise seemed calculated to drip like acid, like a mocking parrot daring him to call her bluff. Still, he couldn’t stand around and wait for a deadly cloud to finish him off. Finding this sheltered valley was probably his only option.

  Soon, the shoreline bent to the right. The lake narrowed into a wide river, and a logjam between two piles of boulders blocked the flow. Semiramis stopped at the jam. Matt joined her, and both stood in thigh-deep water, hotter than before. On the other side of the jam, a stream of lava trickled down the channel where water once ran, an extension of a wider lava flow on higher ground that originated at the volcano.

  “A dead end?” Matt asked.

  “Maybe.” Semiramis looked at the steaming ground. “Most of the lava went south and west. We were heading east, and now we’re turning southward. The river used to flow through this channel, and it spilled into the valley. B
ut the ground is too hot to walk on. We’ll have to find another way.”

  “How far is the valley from here?”

  “On foot? An hour, maybe.”

  Matt smacked his lips. More bitterness. The fumes were returning. “We might be dead in an hour.”

  “Do you have a suggestion?”

  Matt nudged a log with his foot. “Let’s clear the jam and follow the river. We could even ride a log and get there faster.”

  Semiramis shook her head. “Dangerous. Very dangerous.”

  “No more dangerous than standing out here.”

  She set the shirt over her mouth. “Agreed. It’s getting worse.”

  Matt handed Semiramis his jacket, climbed over the pile, and looked for a key log, one that would loosen the rest if removed. He walked partway down the opposite side and, balancing near the superheated riverbed, pushed his shoulder against a likely candidate. As the log shifted, the entire pile vibrated. Water spilled through widening gaps and into the channel. With a loud sizzle, steam shot up from the contact points—water striking lava, creating an instant boil.

  Something metallic glimmered in one of the gaps. Matt reached in and pulled out a spyglass, the kind that expands and collapses like an accordion. He climbed over the pile to the lake side and showed it to Semiramis. “No rust. Someone dropped it recently.”

  “I recognize this.” She rubbed a finger along an etching on one side. “This is Hebrew. It says, ‘Enoch.’”

  “Enoch?” He stared at the odd lettering. “Do you know someone named Enoch?”

  “I do, but this was passed down from him to someone else, likely a victim of Mount Elijah.”

  “Maybe the person who made it erupt? Arramos’s conspirator?”

  “Not likely. The owner of this spyglass has no such power.” She looked out over the lake. “I wonder if she survived.”

  Matt coughed. The choking fumes were getting thicker by the second. “Well, we won’t survive if I don’t get these logs unjammed.”