Raven's Key: A Novel

by Siomonn Pulla

  “I trust all is in order,” asked Shelly.

  “Perfect.”

  Raven tucked the envelope under his arm and grabbed Iyash’s feet off the chair. He pressed the button for the elevator. After a few seconds the green light chimed and the doors opened.

  “Nice working with you.” Raven dragged Iyash into the elevator with him. “Oh yea, your boss wanted you to find a cleaner to clean up this mess.”

  As the elevator doors slowly closed, Raven could see Shelly shaking her head as she started to thumb through the phone book.

  Once the elevator started to descend Raven pressed the emergency stop button and took the chalice that Essa had given to him out of his coat pocket.

  I hope this thing still works. It has been a long time since I used it. I can’t believe Derg took it off the battlefield all those years ago. I was convinced that it was broken beyond repair.

  Holding the cup up to Iyash’s dry blue lips, he invoked the words long etched into his memory.

  “Arise today, through the strength of all that is and all that is yet to be; light of sun, radiance of moon, splendor of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth and firmness of rock, I call you back, from the stars, the seeds of light, the shadows of death, cross the bridge and meet me here in all your glory, blessed be.”

  Raven tipped the cup and emptied the clear liquid which had appeared into Iyash’s parted lips. The liquid sloshed down the sides of Iyash’s face and his body remained stiff and cold.

  Maybe this isn’t going to work after all. I swear that I saw Efnissen shatter this cup into a million tiny fragments. I can’t imagine that the faeries had magic strong enough to fix this cup and restore its ability to bring the dead back.

  Raven took a closer look at the cup. There were no cracks, or signs that it had ever been shattered into tiny fragments. It looked exactly like he had remembered it many years ago.

  But that’s impossible, really. Obviously it doesn’t work anyways. Look at this cold dead corpse.

  Raven slapped Iyash’s face.

  “Wake up old man, it’s time for you to come back.”

  Iyash coughed up the remaining liquid inside his mouth all over Raven’s chest.

  “Welcome back. I almost gave up on you.”

  “That was a rough trip.” Iyash slowly opened his eyes and tried to sit up but his body wasn’t fully responding. “It was really hard for me to come back. I was starting to really enjoy the view from up there.”

  “Give yourself some time old man.” Raven helped Iyash to sit up. “The body has to get used to the spirit being back.”

  “In a perfect world, that would be ok, but we don’t have the time for me to enjoy a full, leisurely recovery back to this material existence.” Iyash looked around the elevator. “Where are we anyways?”

  “In an elevator, leaving Marduk’s office.” Raven put the chalice back inside his coat and picked up his envelope from the floor. “It’s all over.”

  “What do you mean, did Maeve kill him?” Iyash could feel the circulation starting to return to his body. “Is Marduk dead?”

  “Not yet but soon,” Raven pressed a button on the panel in front in of him, resuming the elevator’s descent. “We need to get out of here while we can.”

  “Get out, what are you talking about.” Iyash stopped the elevator. “We need to help Maeve, she can’t do this all by herself.”

  “Listen, I’ve done my part here, now it’s time for me to move on.” Raven started the elevator again, “I got Maeve here, I brought you back, now I’m going to go enjoy my new digs, put my feet up and take a much deserved retirement from all this.”

  “But what if she doesn’t kill him. What if he overpowers her. You know as well as I do that Marduk is not to be trusted.”

  “It’s a done deal old man, Maeve has the support of the Lyrians and the council. She’s got her back watched. There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just get in the way. In fact, we’ll probably screw everything up if we try to help.”

  “But how can you just walk away from all this. From Maeve,” Iyash stood up, and almost fell down again, but Raven helped to steady him. “You’ve just met her, she’s your niece. Your only family left. You have a duty to protect her.”

  “If she survives all this, then I’ll think about having a family reunion.” Raven sighed deeply. “I can’t be attached to any outcome right now. I’ve been hurt too much in the past. I’m just happy that I can finally move on from all this.”

  “Move on?” Iyash’s frustration was starting to show. “What are you moving on to? There isn’t going to be anything to move on to if Marduk has his way.”

  “Listen, I apologize for dragging you into all this. For bringing you here. But I couldn’t blow my cover. I was under strict orders from the Council to keep you guessing. The whole objects thing was a ruse. It was bait to get us closer to Marduk and we needed you to believe in it so Marduk would believe in it.”

  “Come on you don’t expect me to believe that.” The elevator stopped and the doors slowly opened. Iyash stumbled out after Raven. “You know as well as I do that those objects are real. They’re powerful, sacred items.”

  “Yea, the objects are real, but this whole new creation, end of the world stuff is bullshit.” Raven made his way down the corridor towards the entrance. “The Council cooked the whole thing up. They needed a way to get close to Marduk so they planted the ritual idea in the timeline and waited to see if Marduk would take the bait. And he did. So we hatched the plan.”

  “What about Maeve?”

  “She was a wildcard. Nobody knew about her really, except for me.”

  “So you told Marduk about her then?”

  “Not intentionally. He tapped into my consciousness and discovered her. I had to really cover my tracks. Originally the Council wanted me to kill Marduk. Build trust with him and then pop him off. It seemed easy at the time, but became increasingly difficult to get close to him. Almost like he knew what was going on, which was impossible, but the Council got squeamish. So, they took me out of the timeline and put Maeve in there instead. She was perfect. She didn’t know anything and I played it up so she really didn’t like me. The plan was working perfectly until you showed up. I’ll definitely give you points for persistence.”

  “But why did you take Maeve to Anwin?” Iyash was starting to feel out of breath. “If you wanted to keep your cover so badly.”

  “I played it up too good. Maeve needed to find her own internal strength. We’re all relying on her to kill Marduk aren’t we?” Raven paused and looked over his shoulder. “So, against my better judgment, I made a deal with the faeries. I would help to bring her memory back if they agreed to let me take her to Anwin and decide for herself if she would help the Council.”

  “But won’t Marduk catch on to this?”

  “He’s too far gone. We’ve got him exactly where we want him. Right now he’s thinking with his balls and not with his mind.”

  They reached the entrance to the street.

  “Take it easy old man. This is where we just have to sit back and let all the threads of the story come together. You can’t control it. If we win great. If not, well then we’ll all suffer for a while until we get back on our toes again.”

  Raven opened the door to the street. The sun was shining bright. People were milling about on the sidewalk.

  “I still don’t trust you.” Iyash rushed onto the street after Raven. “I don’t believe you!”

  “He’s telling the truth grandfather.” George stood in front of Raven blocking his way. “Everything he’s told you is correct.”

  “We need to go help Maeve, she can’t do it by herself.” Paul grabbed Iyash by the arm. “He’s going to kill her.”

  “How did you find us?” Raven backed away from George. “I thought I covered our tracks.”

  “With a little help from our friends,” Paul hummed. “We’ve got to get moving. Come on guys!”

&nb
sp; “Like I said, I’m done with all this.” Raven checked the traffic on the road, to make sure it was safe to cross. “She’s on her own. You can’t screw with the timelines. Let it unfold the way its supposed to.”

  “You neglected to mention to my grandfather something about a blood debt.” George grabbed Raven by the arm before he could cross. “I would hate to have to report to Derg that we found you taking off with a whole envelope full of cash after you delivered Maeve.”

  “I guess I could spare a few more minutes.” Raven looked at the envelope in his hand and then at George. “Follow me, I know exactly where there are.”

  Chapter 49

  “I can assure you that I didn’t steal the objects from the museum Detective Coon.” Susan felt relieved to finally get the chance to talk to the police. It was so cathartic to confess the truth. “I feel too strongly about protecting our cultural heritage. Growing up in Egypt, my father always complained about the grave robbers and how our national cultural heritage was being sold to the highest bidder at auction houses around the world.”

  “I’m not accusing you of stealing any objects yet.” Coon had his pad of paper ready to take down notes. “I’m interested in learning more about this whole situation. You say a Raven stole the objects? Funny I thought I saw one in the tree outside this house. Maybe it was a premonition or something.”

  “Raven’s really a man but he can turn into a bird. He came to the museum yesterday morning to examine the Sinclair manuscript, he said he was a visiting professor from Ireland.” Susan noticed the business card lying on the coffee table in front of her and passed it to the detective, “Here’s his business card.”

  “Dr. Bran Corvus, professor of religion, very clever.” Coon slipped the card into his notebook, “Lemme get this right. You’re accusing the professor here of stealing the objects from the museum. But he was there to look at a manuscript. Did you give him access to the collections?”

  “Absolutely not. He was in a secure research area. I don’t know how he managed to get into the collections room. It’s off-limits to visiting researchers. I’m sure you’re familiar with the new security protocols at the museum Detective?”

  “Very familiar. That’s why I still don’t follow your story,” Coon scratched his head, “A museum security guard reported having some kind of run in with a large black bird in the collections room yesterday morning, could’ve been a Raven. There were no reports, however, of any unauthorized personal in the collections room filed by museum security.”

  “He must have turned into a bird then and flew out at the security guard or just disappeared.”

  Turned into a bird and disappeared, the detective wrote in his notebook. The idea sounded so far-fetched but his gut told him there might be something more to the story.

  “That’s pretty hard to believe. Are you taking any medication or have any history with mental illness?”

  “No. I am not. Listen, you have to believe me. If you check the records, I’m sure you’ll find that the visiting professor never signed out.”

  “So you never signed him out?”

  “No I got distracted. I had two unexpected visitors arrive. They weren’t supposed to arrive until next week. Luckily Paul was there to help me out.”

  “Who’s Paul?”

  “Paul Saya, he’s my assistant, well, unofficially. He’s a graduate student at the university. He spends a lot of time at the museum doing research and helping me out on projects when he can.”

  “Is this Paul the one who was supposed to be here in the room with you?” Coon was scribbling notes into his book. “Who were the unexpected visitors.”

  “Two Native Elders arrived from up north to view some of their objects in the collection room. The same objects that are missing.” Susan was starting to feel tired of all these questions. “Paul and I ended up here with the two elders trying to track the objects down.”

  “I thought you said there were only two other people with you?”

  “That was before the other elder got kidnapped by Raven.”

  “So Ms. Finn has some involvement in the alleged theft of these objects?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Apparently Raven was trying to steal her as well but ended up with the old man instead. The Council of Light wanted us to protect her at all costs. Just before you arrived, though, she was snatched away.”

  “That’s funny, I didn’t see any vehicles driving away from this building.”

  “They travel dimensionally. We’re not dealing with regular people here.”

  “Apparently,” Coon muttered under his breath. “These are some pretty serious allegations you’re making.”

  “I just want to ensure you have all the facts Detective,” replied Susan. “I’m concerned that you may suspect me of stealing these items.”

  “First I have to confirm with museum officials that the objects are missing.” Coon closed his notebook. “I had a tip that a suspect matching a profile put out by Interpol had been spotted in the area. That’s really why I’m here. Apparently the suspect had been seen twice interacting with Ms. Finn.”

  “Well that’s a relief.” Susan slumped back into her chair. “Do you have a picture of the suspect?”

  Coon dug into his pocket and produced the composite sketch.

  “This is the suspect in a string of thefts from museums across the world. He’s stolen millions of dollars worth of rare objects that could never be replaced.”

  “That’s him, that’s Raven.” Susan recognized the picture right away. “He’s the guy that stole the objects and took Maeve away. It’s a perfect sketch of him.”

  “Are you sure? Take a good look.” Coon handed the sketch to Susan. “Would you be wiling to come down to the station and make a formal statement?”

  “Absolutely, it’s him.” Susan handed the sketch back to Coon. “I would be pleased to come down to the station and file a formal statement.”

  “Excellent, just let me call this in.” Coon took out his cell phone but before he could make a call it started to ring.

  Chapter 50

  “I think you might need some help, don’t be shy,” Marduk stood naked in his office, his clothes folded in a neat pile beside his desk. “I promise I’ll restrain myself. At least until we get to the point of the ritual where we finally get to have sex.”

  “What do you mean?” Maeve unbuttoned her jeans and took off her shirt. “I don’t plan on having sex with anybody today. I’m not that kind of girl. I like to get to know my boyfriends for a couple of months before I sleep with them.”

  “What about John Peters, and David Richards?” Marduk started lighting candles on the table where the artifacts were placed. “You slept with both of them only hours after meeting them.”

  “Well, they’re the exception to the rule.” Maeve had stripped down to her bra and underwear. “But definitely not exceptional.”

  “Well I can assure you that I am exceptional in all ways.” Madurk pressed a button on the wall and the blinds closed and lights dimmed. “I like your style Maeve, letting me do the final honors of undressing you. I think I’ll wait until it’s time for us to seal the ritual with our own energy.”

  “Great, so what do you want me to do in the meantime?” Maeve looked around the room, trying to conceal her desire to bolt for the door. “Is there anything you need me to get? I notice you don’t have a ritual dagger or anything there on your altar. I’m not well versed in this stuff, but don’t these rituals usually involve a sharp knife or something to draw blood?”

  “Good point, I never thought of that. It wasn’t in the timeline but it could be handy, especially if you try to do anything silly.”

  Marduk opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out his black dagger, placing it on the altar next to Iyash’s pipe.

  “I keep this knife here just in case I need to kill somebody in the spur of the moment, like the pesky old Indian who was really starting to get on my nerves.”

  “I’ve nev
er seen a knife like that before.” Maeve was trying to stall, to buy herself some time to figure out how she was going to pull this off. She could hear Essa and Arwan in her head, reminding her to be brave. That the stakes were high but that nothing was impossible, “Where did you get it?”

  “An old friend gave it to me many years ago, you could say it has sentimental value.”

  “Is it black metal? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Maeve picked the knife up off the altar. “It must be rare.”

  “My, my, so many questions.” Marduk took the knife away from Maeve. “It is very rare, there’s nothing like it on earth.”

  “So now you’re going to tell me that aliens gave it to you.”

  “As a matter of fact they did.” Marduk looked sharply at Maeve. “Perhaps you know more than you’re letting on.”

  “I know all about those green men from Mars, who fly around in their disks abducting people and implanting devices inside of them. If you’re lucky, they’ll give you a nice, shiny black knife to slit your throat when you get too depressed to keep living. It sounds like an episode of the X-Files.”

  “It’s time we started.”

  Marduk took the lid off of an ornate box sitting on his desk. Inside the box was another smaller box which contained a small quantity of black powder. He laid four small lines of the powder on the table.

  “First we need to snort this.”

  “What is it? Looks like moldy cocaine,”

  “It’s a special medicine that will help you relax and move into the proper mind space for the ritual.” Marduk snorted two of the lines. “Now it’s your turn.”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never really been into drugs.” Maeve crossed her arms. “I’ve smoked my share of dope but never anything stronger than that. I never even dropped acid when all my friends were getting into it.”

  “This is not optional.” Marduk grabbed Maeve’s head and pushed her face down onto the desk. “Snort those lines.”

  “Ok, relax.” Maeve snorted the first line of black powder. “What is this stuff anyways?”

  “It’s refined crude oil.” Marduk took his hand off Maeve’s head, he was starting to feel the effects of the powder. “Now take the second line.”