by Alan D Jones
Chapter 21 - Chasing Ghosts
July, 1981 - North Hudson Bay, Canada
If you cast your brother into the wilderness don’t be surprised if he adapts.
“At last,” Chase looked out over the icy battlefield and said, “the curtain rises on the last scene in the theater of life.”
A confused Destry asked, “What are you talking about, Scarecrow? This is the last day for our opponents, you mean.”
Through the softly falling snow Chase smiled and thought “How do you explain the End of Days to a fool? And who is the bigger fool in such a conversation?” If this man did not understand that, by making a deal with the demon Matasis, he had essentially made a deal with the devil there was nothing that Chase could do for him now.
The nearly completed Omni Portal had reappeared on Earth nearly three days ago at which time mankind began their futile assault on it. Chase and the other Council of Nob members had expected this. After all, Earth possessed its own oracles. Despite their efforts, all that remained to be done were the final calibrations. Destry’s mercenaries worked feverishly to complete final tests and last-minute adjustments. Destry grinned at the thought of turning the portal on at last.
Chase knew that Destry and his lot had envisioned a world of constant war with the portal’s opening. Actually, there was very little that would be constant about it. In a short time, the earth would perish and the forces of darkness would proceed to the next world.
Chase viewed the war monger, Poseidon, as a fool, too. He was a fool for believing that his armada could stand against the forces on the other side of the portal. Poseidon imagined Earth would prove the perfect training ground for his forces to engage all manner of being – flesh, spirit, and everything in between. They had weapons that were effective against both. Poseidon was so confident in his forces that he didn’t see what was on the other side of the portal as a threat; he saw them rather as worlds to conquer that had been previously unavailable to him. Chase, however, understood probabilities. He knew that the chances of Poseidon and his civilization being the final winners in this cosmic melee were infinitesimally small.
Isadora’s designs, on the other hand, actually had a chance to succeed. A small chance but a chance nonetheless. The Queen of the Dead knew that her realm, Oblivion, was one of the most feared of the portal destinations. She knew that her kingdom wouldn’t be high on anyone’s list to invade. This bloody chaos would allow her to claim countless lost souls and time to prepare for any potential attacks on her dark realm. Chase refrained from mentioning to her that chaos is, in fact, chaotic. Thus, the odds of things playing out exactly as Isadora wished weren’t great. Chase did believe that she would have a bit of time to enjoy a heightened status as the bodies piled up. But, ultimately, everything and everyone, including her and her land of the dead, would be destroyed.
Chase knew that Zi saw these events as the closing act on creation, at least this rendition of it. Zi saw this as the necessary destruction of the current flawed age in order to bring about a new and better age.
Chase saw finality. Unlike others, Chase expected to die that day regardless of who won or lost. His singular goal was to engage the Elders and have them answer for the fate of his beloved. In fact, his life for the past three hundred years had been completely about holding the Circle Knight Elders accountable. Chase had dreamed of this day for centuries. Yet, he could hardly fathom that he’d reached the precipice of his goal. All he had to do now was to fall. It was so simple. “Surely, the twelve would be in attendance today of all days,” Chase thought. When the Elders arrived he would engage them. Chase knew that he stood no chance against them, but he would speak his piece and the name of his beloved before he died. Their acts would be revealed before Heaven, Earth and Hell.
The Elders were not here. Chase reasoned that they’d found some means of cloaking themselves. Still, how could they allow Matasis and Isadora to proceed so far without intervening? The portal would be active momentarily but not a single alpha-level Circle Knight was in play.
Silver-haired Matasis stepped out of the command tent. As he surveyed the battle below he asked, “Chase, you were once one of them. So, tell me. What are they up to?”
From their camp located in the high ground of the north, Matasis and the other council members could see the entire field of combat.
Chase surveyed the field before answering, “I think they’re holding their alphas back until we enter the field. Right now, it’s just a fireworks show. They’ve mixed in most of their paranormal personnel with the regular troops in a full out assault from the west. Our combined forces from The Pit and Isadora’s Oblivion are holding ground easily. From the south, their ships and planes fire munitions at the portal at the price of some of our workers. But, of course the Omni Portal remains unharmed, for it is indestructible.”
Matasis grinned, “So, basically you’re telling me that you don’t know either.”
Chase hesitated for a second as he tried to add context to something Zi had mentioned in passing. It was something she’d heard on the wind. Then, finally disregarding it, he simply nodded.
Matasis continued, “Oh, this is a rare day that Chase the Saint Killer, does not know something. But, then again, you’re not particularly concerned with the outcome of the battle are you?”
Chase gave a half-nod conceding the point. He wanted to know why the Elders cast his beloved into The Pit. The stated reason was for the practice of witchcraft since Circle Knights are prohibited from the practice, but Chase never accepted this. Others had done as much but had not been punished so. He knew that the Elders were too intelligent to openly deem their relationship as unnatural. There had been others before Chase and his beloved, and yet he wondered… was there something they’d done differently? Were they too open with their love? If they had simply lived in the shadows, would his love still be here? The unanswered questions still burned within him all those years later.
“And, no sign of the Dream Box?” Matasis asked.
He had spared the girls in their youth mostly in exchange for Elisa’s services. But, he also held out hope of finding this dream box. With the Dream Box in hand, he could destroy God’s creation and use it to recreate the universe in his own image.
“Dream Box? You don’t actually believe that it exists do you?” an incredulous Destry asked.
“There’s a story that has spread from one dark lord to another that the Creator gave the other side something called a dream box. I’ve never seen it. If they’ve not used it by this point, I guess it stands to reason that it doesn’t exist,” Matasis said.
“So, no Elders, no Dream Box and not a single alpha level knight. Are you disappointed?” Chase asked.
Matasis laughed, “Certainly, I would have rather personally shed the blood of the Elders in battle, but I guess the lot of them are off somewhere serving each other last rites.”
Down below, Destry’s comrades signaled that they were done. Destry turned back to Matasis, “Showtime, boss-man.”
Matasis called into the tent for the others to come out so that they could witness the beginning of the end. Chase was quietly stunned by the arrogance that Matasis showed. The demon did not entertain the thought that the Circle Knights might outsmart him in some way. At least he was concerned. The Elders weren’t just going to let this be. Still, down below, the Omni Portal roared to life. Its roar was so mighty that the earth shook. The Omni Portal was shaped like a ring. It was sixty stories tall and the same in width. Its surface, when inactive, was stone-like in appearance. Once activated, it turned to bright and shining gold with streaks of silver. It was the same in thousands of locations. All of the portals were activated simultaneously. During its construction, the portal had traveled to each of these locations and then disappeared shortly after its technicians had captured their coordinates.
Almost immediately, figures formed inside the Omni Portal. The first beast through the portal was a Tambrin Tiger. The demon seed
walked upright and had a head that looked much like a tiger’s head. When it opened its mouth, a dark, dreadful mist spewed forth. The Tambrin Tiger consumed all who came into contact with the mist. Their flesh dissolved as the beast digested them externally. Several of Destry’s mercenaries made the mistake of being too close to the portal when the beast appeared. They were no more.
From the eastern sky came a glowing golden arrow that struck the Tambrin Tiger in the head. The creature fell backwards and its killing mist withdrew within it.
“Ah, the Sisters are here. I figured they’d send them. Let us stain the fresh snow with their blood,” Matasis crowed as he strutted through the ever increasing snowfall towards the battle field.
“It’s harvest time”, Isadora said. She flashed an evil grin and took flight.
Zi looked to Chase, “Care to place a wager, old friend?”
Chase smirked, “That’s a fool’s bet. If we’re still here tomorrow, you win. If creation dies today, I win but you never have to pay off.”
“I never said it was a good bet.”
With that, Zi laughed and took to the wind. It should be noted that among their foes that day, Cil had the most respect for Zi. This was largely because Cil viewed Zi as the most humble of a vain lot. Like Chase, she recognized her own mortality despite the fact that she was not aging. However, unlike Chase, Zi realized that the future is an uncertain thing and that one should plan accordingly. Chase’s predictive ability infected him with a level of arrogance – to a lesser degree than the demons, but more than Zi. His gift allowed him to see all the logical possibilities of a situation and to rank them in order of probability. As an event drew nearer, his predictive abilities became essentially flawless. Chase had figured out early on that Cil could see the future. He had the uncanny ability to analyze a thousand data points instantly and determine a course of action in nanoseconds. In all his years, Chase could not recall a time when his abilities had truly failed him. This accounted for his arrogance in battle. Zi, on the other hand, always assumed that something unexpected might happen and planned accordingly. This was the shred of humility that elevated her in Cil’s eyes.
Poseidon’s armada was stationed in a low Earth orbit awaiting his call to engage. He had weapons at this disposal that Destry and the others had never even dreamt of before. The spirits imprisoned in the crystals that hung around his neck were evidence of the effectiveness of their technological success. Still, Poseidon was a fan of the old ways. He wanted to satisfy his own personal bloodlust before he called in the big guns. For hundreds of thousands of years, he had lived the warrior’s way. Even though he was an admiral, he still liked to get his hands dirty. He lusted for the kill. Like Chase, he’d hoped to encounter one of these Elders in hopes of repaying them for past transgressions. Poseidon sought retribution for being driven from the Earth along with the other gods and goddesses of his age. Adding insult to injury, one of these cursed half-breeds had taken up the golden bow of Athena. His wrath had been building since the day he left this cursed land, but he needed to wait just a little longer. He needed the Elders to show themselves before he sprang his trap from the heavens. Once the Elders were imprisoned, he would turn his attention to his Council of Nob associates. He deemed them fools. The armada in orbit was just one of many. His race had conquered countless star systems in many galaxies. They eagerly awaited the opportunity to use the Omni Portal to easily access other civilizations.
Chase’s plan was not so grand. He would kill Cil. She was the Gatekeeper and a favorite of the Elders. If this did not provoke either the Elders or God to show themselves, at least he would have made his own pain known to all. But, how do you trap a woman who was as fast as lightning and could see the future? Chase had a plan.
THE BOOK OF
SARAH
