"The Dust of Forgotten Temples"
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dochermes"The Dust of Forgotten Temples"
11/22/2003
I.
At the head of the long table, Sable pressed her hands out flat and stared down at them. "It's true. I have been getting dozens of reports from our observers all over the British Isles and Northwestern Europe. Friday night, an unexplained wave of gruesome crimes broke out. People mutilating animals for no reason, cutting out the eyes out of cats and dogs. People harming themselves, slicing long gouges across their own faces, burning their hands in fires, tearing off their own ears. Many brutal murders. And there are reports of thousands of people too exhausted and traumatized to go to work or school because of nightmares which left them shivering and wet with cold sweat."
"Ack, " said Unicorn. "Any of this in the news media? I haven't noticed it."
"No. A few scattered reports in local newspapers and TV stations of the less troubling atrocities. I think it's clear the authorities are consciously suppressing coverage and hushing it all up. But Facebook and the other online sites are on fire. People were hesitant to connect the horrors at first but now the phrase 'the Long Dark Night' has broken out and is referred to everywhere." Sable raised her head and her dark eyes fixed on their visitor. "And this is what you have come to warn us about, isn't it?"
Seated at the other end of that table where four generations of Tel Shai heroes had assembled, Eidurach lifted his bony long-fingered hands and gestured wildly. "That night was but the beginning. It has been seven days and the darkest forces have gathered again. Tonight will be far worse and the next Friday night even more dreadful."
Eidurach's long straight white hair and beard shone in the subdued overhead lighting of the conference room. His gaunt face with its prominent cheekbones and pointed nose was unsettling to see, he reminded everyone of starvation victims. The loose, bell-sleeved white tunic under a heavy cloak of bull hide added to his dramatic image. "Deep in the earth, Forgotten Ones stir angrily and begin to send their murderous hatred up toward us."
"And how do you know of all this?" demanded Josef Jubilec bluntly. The Blind Archer was not one for tact.
"I am the last of the True Druids," said Eidurach. "Our wisdom must never be written down, only passed on in song and recitations. As a boy, my grandfather taught me much so that I would never forget the lore. Ages ago when we were many, our chants and ceremonies served to keep the Forgotten Ones drowsy and harmless but now I alone am left. The new warlocks, the Black Druids, have replaced us. Their sacrifices with golden sickles and Wicker Men have rousted the Forgotten Ones."
Seated to Sable's left, Sheng Mo-Yuan lifted one hand in protest. His normally mild voice had a sharper tone to it. The young Chujiran man was the most scholarly and intellectually curious of the new team. "Hang on a second. I've done some reading on this. The Druids weren't a blasphemous cult or anything. That was propaganda from the Romans and the early Christians to get rid of them. The Druids were like, teachers and lawyers and healers and historians. They've been unfairly stereotyped."
"You speak of my kind, the True Druids. We were the wise men and women of the oak groves. But by the time the legions of Rome marched over Britain, we had been mostly supplanted by the Black Druids." Eidurach's deepset blue eyes had dark shadows under them as they burned feverishly. "Of all the schools of knowledge left on this fallen world, I fear only the Order of Tel Shai might still be able to act against this coming cataclysm."
"It does sound like exactly what Tel Shai was founded to handle," Sable replied. She did not say so, but her gift of enhanced perception had been studying their visitor. Sable could hear and count his heartbeats from twelve feet away. She could smell the adrenalin traces in his sweat, she could hear the subvocal tremors no amount of guile could disguise, she could watch how his pupils contracted and widened as he spoke. Her team knew her powers and understood she was using them as the most accurate lie detection process possible. All her readings were behind her next statement, "For the moment, we believe you, Eidurach. Tell us more."
"It has been longer than I realized since I had counseled with Tel Shai knights. Where is the Dire Wolf? In this crisis, we need the power of Khang, the wisdom of the Eyeless Helmet, the resolve of Sulak. I had hoped to meet with the Silver Skull and the Cat's-Claw. I came seeking the greatest heroes of this era but I see only young unlined faces watching me with dismay."
"We ARE the knights of Tel Shai," Sable told him. "Khang has been destroyed. Nebel doesn't wear Sagehelm any more, Sulak stays in his realm of Androval. The Silver Skull was killed and no replacement has turned up, but at least Levon here bears Cat's Claw. What you see here is the new generation, like it or not."
"Hey, I think we deserve a little respect," interrupted Unicorn. The petite blonde was also dressed all in white and her platinum hair was as bright as their visitor's, but her face had delicate features that were in complete contrast to the Druid's withered countenance. "We're not babies. We have been fighting the Midnight War for three long years. This team been accepted at Tel Shai and we are full knights. Give us a little credit."
A tense silence followed her outburst. Then, grudgingly, Eidurach nodded in her direction. "Overlook any slight my words may have given. In this terrible moment, I must speak plainly."
"Okay, sorry if I over-reacted." Along with her teammates, Ashley turned to gaze at their captain. "So, Sable, this looks like another world-threatening cosmic crisis about to explode. Exactly what we signed up for."
"Yes," Sable responded. "Megan, warm up the CORBY and do the pre-flight check. Sheng, see if you can contact Jeremy, he was in Okali the last we heard from him. We're assembling in the hangar at ten sharp, full field suits and combat gear. The Midnight War has broken out again."
II.
While her team readied themselves, Sable escorted Eidurach to the kitchen. He had come to the KDF straight from a transatlantic flight and had not eaten or slept for a full day. She helped him make two thick sandwiches of roast beef and Swiss cheese which he devoured along with several cups of black coffee.
"You are thoughtful to consider my comfort," he said, finishing the last crumb. "I admit I was giving in to useless despair rather than gathering determination to fight this nightmare."
"Glad to play hostess," she said, sipping a tumbler of iced tea herself. She noticed again that although clean, his fingernails were long and pointed. "Of course, I have thousands of questions. How can your Druid knowledge have not have been gradually lost? It's been thousands of years since your priesthood was broken. Oral tradition only lasts so long."
Eidurach regarded her with apparent growing trust. "There is a ritual we undergo, the Unlocking. It releases deeply stored ancestral memories. When I underwent it as a youth, the weight of those merciless revelations left me raving and crawling like a beast for weeks until I could assimilate it all."
"Sounds like your wisdom is more of a burden than a gift."
"True enough. Isn't Tel Shai training similar?"
"Hmm. Not exactly," she said. "To me at least, it was more like a confirmation of ideas I had been hoping were true all my life. Tell you what. We won't be leaving for two hours, maybe I should bring you to a guest room on the fourth floor and you can get some sleep while you can."
For the first time since he had arrived at this headquarters building, the True Druid showed a faint vestige of a smile. "That would be most welcome. The flesh can only be driven by will power for so long. Thank you."
0nce she had seen Eidurach settled into one of the guest rooms, Sable slowly headed down the main staircase to the ground floor. She was more unsettled than she would allow herself to show. It sometimes troubled her that there were more aspects of the occult and supernatural than the Midnight War she knew. All her Tel Shai knowledge concentrated on the Seven Races and the adjacent realms. She knew nothing more about the Druids, True or Black, than what she remembered from a few magazine articles she had skimmed long ago.
The Forgotten Ones that Eidurach had mentioned, could they actually be Sulla Chun? Powerful malevolent beings imprisoned long ago and eager to be released... yes, that sounded like the Sulla Chun and there no worse threats than that in the Midnight War.
Back in the office, she contacted her team one by one. Megan reported the CORBY was ready for wheels up at any time. Sheng had not been able to reach Jeremy Bane, Sulak, Valera or any of the other Associate Members. Sable told her team to rest up while they could and be ready to move out at ten o'clock. She called Garrison Nebel at his home up in Bearsville and was greatly relieved when he answered. The Blind Mystic knew more about the secret worlds than any lore master short of Teacher Jathis at Tel Shai.
Nebel confirmed that he had known Eidurach and provided a detailed description which matched their visitor. He agreed that the Forgotten Ones were likely a variety of Sulla Chun and that their menace was apocalyptic in nature. Nebel also gave her information about the rituals performed by the Black Druids, including the burning of people and cattle in Wicker Man, the nailing of intestines to oak trees, and cannibalism of living victims. Sable felt a cold pang in her chest at hearing all this.
Finally, Nebel regretted he would not be joining them on this mission. His active combat days were behind him. Once he found someone suitable to wear the Eyeless Helmet, he would retire to Tel Shai and spend his remaining years annotating their archives.
Sable thanked him and said goodbye. She really wished he would have agreed to come along or at least let someone new take over the helmet Sagehelm, a major talisman that would be an immense help to have on hand. But trying to persuade Garrison Nebel was like getting a tree stump to change its mind.
It was already nine o'clock. Sable went to the kitchen to warm up the homemade chicken noodle soup which she ate with a sleeve of Saltines. Time to go up to her rooms for a shower and to change into her full field suit.
Leadership meant showing confidence even when she was uncertain. Trudging up the stairs to the third floor, Lauren Sable Reilly could at least admit to herself how worried she was about the outcome of this crisis.
IV.
Strapped to the bench in the rear compartment behind the cockpit, Eidurach sounded nervous. "How can we be going twice the speed the sound? I never heard of a helicopter that could break Mach-One, let alone go twice as fast?"
At the stick, Megan Salenger began clarifying, "Current airspeed is 1425 miles per hour, a little over 1235 knots. The CORBYs are not ordinary aircraft. They employ Trom technology which Humans will not match for at least fifty years at current rates of advancement. We have disengaged the rotors and cut in full impulse engines which are powered by strobe reactions...'
Sable cut her off, "Megan, it's better not to give away information like that."
"Yes. You are quite right." The Trom Girl sighed almost inaudibly. "Evidently working at such close quarters with Humans has loosened my sense of proper security."
"Now, don't start that again," Ashley said from where she was sitting on the floor of the rear compartment next to Levon. "You're as Human as the rest of us. Just because you were raised by those Trom doesn't mean you're as cold and unfeeling and super-boring as they are. Science Nerd," she added.
"In any case, we will be reaching the western coast of Cornwall shortly," Sable interrupted. "Eidurach tells us that the Black Druids will be performing sacrifices at two locations separated by two miles. First team, dropping off at the oak grove in Dunham Woods will be Sheng, Unicorn and Josef. Second team, going to the Wicker Man site, will be myself, Megan and Levon. Eidurach, do you want to accompany one of our teams or remain with the CORBY?"
The elderly Druid did not hesitate. "The Wicker Man ceremony is the more crucial of the two. I can be of more help there, Miss Reilly, my presence will act as a counter to the ceremonies."
"All right then. Megan, ETA for Dunham Woods?"
"One minute and twenty-five seconds," the Trom Girl answered. "Airspeed reduced to forty MPH. Rotors engaged in normal operation."
Peering down through the windscreen, Sable said, "New moon, overcast. With no external lights showing and stealth mode on, we should be as good as invisible to anyone on the ground. First team ready?"
"Gimme a second," Ashley grunted as she strapped a three foot long cylinder of white leather across her back.
Looking back through the clear divider, Sable said, "Your horn may not be completely effective out there, Ashley. Be ready to rely on your dart gun."
"What? Come on, this is THE Unicorn horn, it's neutralized bad guys for ages. You can count on it."
"Perhaps not," the True Druid warned. "Our magick is very ancient and perhaps stronger than yours."
"I don't THINK so," Ashley scoffed. "The Eldarin themselves ensorcelled the Unicorn horn thirty thousand years ago. That's Darthan Age stuff. You just don't get more potent than that."
Eidurach remained somber. "No one knows how ancient Druid knowledge truly is, my child. Much what was known has been lost. The Earth is covered with the dust of forgotten temples and the names of many gods are not remembered."
"Well, we'll see. Levon and I both have talismans that haven't failed us yet. Right, buddy?"
Of all the team, only Levon Bingham had not changed into one of the armored field suits with all their built-in weapons and devices. He wore a simple skin-tight pair of leggings and tunic with left his forearms and calves bare. Under that stalking suit on a fine ensalir chain hung the curved talon of his spiritual ancestor Wakimbe. The Cat's-Claw. But Levon did not say more than, "We do share great responsibility, Unicorn."
On the bench next to the Druid, Josef Jubilec had been examining the yew longbow he had crafted and broken in himself. Leaning up against his knee was a Y-shaped quiver which held ten arrows in each compartment. The Blind Archer normally had a deadpan expressionless face which gave away little of what he was thinking. At the moment, his dark blue eyes were harder to read than ever. "Ready, captain," was all he said.
"Landing gear lowered, we are touching down." At the stick, Megan landed the CORBY so deftly that no one felt the wheels touch the ground. Outside, far from any towns, the starless night was murky and ominous. Exiting through the side hatch, the three KDF members hopped out onto the dried grass of late fall. All around them, the forest of Dunham Woods stretched for miles. Their research had found this was restricted property owned by the family of the Earl of Dunham... a notorious debaucher and libertine with much to hide.
"Eidurach says the Oak Grove is north by northeast of where we stand," Sable told her team as she gazed out at them. "Two miles from here. You all know how to approach without being seen, but once you make contact, it's full combat mode. We have to stop these ceremonies no matter what.
"We've been through this a few times," Unicorn answered blithely. "The Three Witch Queens, the Stolen City. Heck, we've been dividing into teams since the start. As soon as we clear up this bunch, Sable, we'll hurry over to give you guys a hand."
"Good luck. It's almost midnight, time to roll." Sable pressed a button that closed the hatch and the CORBY rose straight up into the black void of the night. Even at close range, the Trom ship's rotors made no more noise than a stiff breeze might.
Left with Sheng in the rear compartment, Eidurach said, "The girl does not take this as seriously as she should. Soon, thousands will go mad again, more than last Friday's Long Dark Night. The suffering and death and cruelty will get worse with each ritual."
Sheng Mo-Yuan had been holding his helmet in his lap, now he lowered it down over his head but left the visor up. "Eh. Don't let Ashley's insolent way of talking mislead you. She was raised from childhood to be an adventurer by her mother, the first Unicorn. Ash is as tough as boiled leather under that attitude. And Josef was brought up by the cult of Blind Archers, he's even more hard-boiled. They'll get the job done."
"I pray to the three goddesses who rule our fates that you are right. Remember the dust of forgotten temples and that Black Magic goes back before written language, before the taming of fire. We challenge powers that men have dreaded from the first dawn."
The young Chujiran shrugged. "Wait and see what happens, sir. You're with the knights of Tel Shai now."
Sable said, "Slow to a hover, Megan. There! See those Lights? Torches. That's Pembroke Hill, where a very interesting Neolithic structure stands. So far, archeologists haven't been allowed to study it."
"It has long been the gathering place for the Black Druids," announced Eudarach in his sepulchral tones. "Can't you feel the prickling in the air? Evil deeper than mere Human evil is stirring within sight of us."
The lights in the cockpit flickered. Instantly, Megan Salenger snapped, "Taking us down," and the stealthcopter hit the ground with a jarring thump as its interior went completely dark.
"Hey, what's this all about?" demanded Sheng.
"All systems are dead," the Trom Girl responded. "It's as if we've entered an adjacent realm where technology doesn't function, My Link isn't working either."
"This must be an effect of the ceremony," said Eudarach. "In effect, we are back under Bronze Age law."
"But... this means I can't use any of my devices," Megan said with an unprecedented tremor in her voice.
"You are still a knight of Tel Shai with all your Kumundu skills."
"Yes, of course," the Trom Girl said. "Quite right.. What about your powers?"
"My perception is unaffected," replied Sable. "Sheng, what about you?"
The Chujiran Fighter took a second to check his abilities. "I'm shifting to invulnerability, now increased strength. Good. Enhanced speed is working. Good to go, captain. "
"Let's move out then." Sable unmatched the hatch by her side and stepped out into damp windy darkness. "The Black Druids are going to be surprised by three of the most dangerous people alive."
With Eudarach trailing behind them, the KDF members strode briskly up the long slope. Pembroke Hill was a vast artificial earth mound with a round flat top. Arranged in a circle on that summit were twelve stone pillars, each carved with a different scowling face revealed in the unsteady torchlight. Moving about the area, twenty men and women in long black robes were working on a terrifying effigy.
The Wicker Man. Sixty feet high, a crude construction of thousands of twigs and branches tied together with cord, it seemed somehow impossibly to be swaying and moving on its own in the flickering illumination of the torches. The Black Druids were dragging stone urns filled with flammable oil closer to the abomination, many of them softly singing in a language from before the first Celts entered the Isles.
Hanging back undetected in the darkness, Megan whispered to her partners, "Wait. Where are the intended victims ?"
"You're right," Sable said equally low. "They were supposed to have burned people and cattle in these things. Where are they?"
Standing behind them, Eudarach raised his gnarled staff and cried out the name of a God never written down. Paralyzing waves of force more chilling than the iciest water slammed the three KDF members to the ground, leaving them gasping and unable to move.
With a sweeping gesture, Eudarach flung off his bull hide cloak and white robe to reveal a black knee-length tunic. "Fools! Fools! You have brought the sacrifices here yourselves!"
V.
Skilled as they were, Ashley and Josef immediately realized that they could not nearly match Levon when it came to stealth. In his black stalking suit and with his dark skin, wearing low soft slippers rather than their boots, he seemed to literally vanish after he got a few feet ahead of them. They could not hear the faintest of dry leaves underfoot or catch more than the briefest glimpse of the new Cat's-Claw as he paused between flitting from one tree to the next.
"We might as well wait for him to recon and report back to us," Josef whispered after a few minutes.
"I think you're right," Unicorn said. "Drat, Levon makes me feel like a moose stomping around by comparison."
Proceeding more slowly and cautiously, the two of them made their way though the forest. Josef had strung his bow and was holding it ready, but had not yet drawn an arrow. In her own hands, Ashley gripped the unique Unicorn horn that her mother had wielded before her. A three foot spiral of ivory, one flat end capped with silver and the other tapering to a sharp point, the horn was warm to her touch. This meant they were near occult force both potent and malevolent. Ashley shifted her grip, ready to use the horn either for its mystic effect or as a weapon in a physical sense. She couldn't tell if Josef was getting as tense as she was. Every breath felt it was being taken against resistance.
Little more than a minute had passed. Her enhanced night vision had fully kicked in and she could discern that the elm and apple trees were overshadowed by giant oaks. Each hundreds of years old, stretching up sixty feet on average, the oaks seemed weirdly twisted and unhealthy in contrast to the other types. Many had round white objects nailed to their trunks at head level.. human skulls. The Unicorn was glad to have someone as formidable as the Blind Archer close to her.
Then, Levon stepped out from behind one of the oaks without warning. Ashley made a noise that could be transcribed as "Awrrk!" and whipped her horn around in readiness to swing it like a club. "Don't DO that!"
"There was only one sentry," the Cat's-Claw said in a normal tone. "Hurry. They will not notice us approaching. In the murk, his eyes flashed with a lambent green glint all their own. Levon wheeled around and took off at a sprint with Josef and Ashley right at his heels. They burst into a clearing dominated by a single gigantic oak more than a hundred feet high.
Blazing torches held high by a crowd of black-robed cultists revealed the gruesome scene in too much detail.
Hanging on the trunk of that thousand-year-old tree with arms and legs held up by copper spikes driven deep into the wood, three naked men and three naked women sagged down as life had left them. Their abdomens had been cut open. Pink ropes of their intestines stretched from one victim to the next to form a web between them. Most horrifying yet, a dozen more young people were stretched out on the ground with their hands and feet tied together. They were going to be next.
What was worst was that the Black Druids were laughing. Some held torches, some waved rough-hewn staffs. A few waved two-handled vicious sickles of gold that were still wet with fresh blood. But all they were roaring with laughter as if this horror was the funniest joke they had ever heard. In the black robes with cowls pulled up, nothing could be seen of their faces.
One of the Druids held up his sickle and cried out a phrase in a language no one but their priesthood spoke any more. He gestured at the youth stretched out before his feet and two of his fellows went over to fetch the next victim. With a hiss, a long thin shaft slid through his neck to remain with its barbed head sticking out behind him. Immediately, two more arrows thumped deeply into the chests of the two Druids next to him. All three hit the ground simultaneously without having realized what had ended their lives,
The laughter had been cut off instantly. A storm of long shafts whistled through the air like a swarm of furious birds of prey, each one sinking deep into a Druid with a loud thump. It only took a few seconds for twenty of the cultists to be struck down.
Facing them on the other side of the clearing, Josef Jubilec lowered his bow and pulled up the silk band he had tied over his eyes. With their natural sight cut off, the Blind Archers of Chujir elevated their perception so that they perceived life force. In utter darkness or snowstorms or thick smoke, they never missed. They were the most feared league of assassins in the Midnight War.
None of the Druids fled from that unexpected slaughter. All stood silent and frozen in place under an old man's voice shouted, "Can't you see he's out of arrows? Take him! Take him! Nail his guts to the Pembroke Tree!"
Seeing the mob of dark-robed figures raise their sharp-edged sickles and bludgeons, Ashley tapped her teammate on one shoulder. "Ummm, buddy? Now would be a good time to use your talisman."
Loping forward to meet the crowd, Levon Bingham dropped to his hands and toes and drew on the gift of the Claw of Wakimbe. His body swelled, changed, erupted outward to triple in size. A roar echoed for miles as the Black Lion charged the cult.
VI.
Dimly through a dull numbness, Sable felt herself being carried about and manhandled. The field suit jacket, shirt, trousers and boots were all yanked off her. To her dismay, cold air stung her body as even the silk-thin suit of flexible armor was stripped off. That never had happened. Somehow, the Druids had canceled tech to the point where even the paramagnetic seams holding the armor on had failed.
Her arms and legs would not respond at all. Indeed, she could barely feel them. Even in this situation, there was no room for doubt or panic in her thoughts. Sable was team leader because her mind was set for problem-solving. Cold and calm, she was running through what she might be able to come up.
She found herself being propped up in a seated position against one of the stone pillars encircling the Wicker Man. As she watched, Sheng and Megan were dragged over to be set against a pillar on either side of her. Both were naked also, both seemed limp and helpless. But she met their eyes as they were being set up. Neither showed fear, only anger and defiance. That was a great comfort. They had been in hopeless situations many times.
Eidurach gingerly lowered himself to one knee in front of her, supporting him with his staff. The Druid had placed a gold ring by his left nostril and now wore a thick golden torq around his wrinkled neck. His grin was unbearably smug.
After a few incoherent croaks, Sable managed to get out a hoarse whisper. "I didn't think anyone could deceive me..."
The Black Druid could not suppress his glee any longer and broke into open laughter which his fellow cult members shared. Finally, he wiped an eye with the back of his hand and said, "I admit to feeling clever about that, child. We knew of your abilities of course. For days now, I have been reinforcing self-hypnosis. I believed my story of being a noble spiritual True Druid. You could not find deceit because I had none."
"That is clever, " she admitted. "Next time I suspect someone, I will have to dig deeper."
"Next time? NEXT TIME? Are you trying to be brave? Your lives are going to be given to the Forgotten Ones. We will collect your body fat as it melts to fuel our ceremonial torches. Your screens will echo from one end of Dunham Woods to the other before dawn. There is no 'next time' for you, Miss Reilly."
Off to one side, Sheng Mo-Yuan interrupted. "And to think I spoke up for you nuts. I said the Druids weren't bad, they were wise men who had been trash talked by the Romans and the Christians!"
That prompted more laughter from the crowd of robed figures. EIdurach himself joined. "Yes, yes, the so-called True Druids are indeed sanctimonious charlatans! They dance in circles at dawn of the solstice and fool themselves into thinking they are bringing light into the world. They know nothing!"
"Not smart like you guys," taunted Sheng.
"What we know would leave their weak minds broken," Eidurach said. "Without our spells, the Forgotten Ones would wake entirely. They would scorch this world until it was more barren than the Moon. Giving them nights where Mankind goes mad acts as, how shall I put it, a safety valve. They blow off steam and return for another century of slumber."
Sable found she was beginning to regain feeling in her hands and feet. She could wiggle her fingers. The elevated healing from the Tagra regimen of Tel Shai was starting to work. But so slowly! Would Sheng recover sooner because of his gralic power of increases strength.
Turning to the crowd of black-shrouded figures, Eidurach raised his staff and called out, "Brothers and Sisters of the heavy wisdom, it is time. For once, we will not have to break the arms and legs of our sacrifices. Not the flames will roust them enough to try escape. "
The Druids came over to lift their prisoners up overhead. Sable could see the front of the bizarre Wicker Man figure was open and its hollow interior could accommodate herself, Sheng and Megan easily. There must be something she could do, some way she could stall the ceremony. But offers of money would not sway these fanatics. Neither would any warnings of retribution from the other KDF members still at large. The Druids expected that.
Sable was lowered into rough construct, it's sharp-edged branches and twigs scraping her skin. She could smell the flammable oil being soaked into the monstrous effigy, ready to be ignited. Now Megan Salenger was being carried over. She had not spoken since awakening from the sorcereous blast and her face was set in a deadpan expressionless mask that gave away nothing of what she must have been feeling.
"You're passing up a chance to learn Tel Shai knowledge!" Sable yelled.
Eidurach scoffed. "Playing for time? Really, I expected better from you."
"One hour. Just one hour delay," she said. "Our Order has knowledge imparted from Great Jordyn himself. Kumundu. The healing Tagra tea. Secret history of the Seven Races and the adjacent realms. No one else can teach you these things."
"You would break your sacred vow just to live a little longer?"
"Yes, yes. Every breath is precious. Do you want to know about Alchemy? Or where the Yellow Shield is hidden? You're not going to learn these things if you kill us right now."
Still leaning back against a stone pillar, Sheng
yelled, "Sable, no! Don't do it!"
"Tagra will make you as nimble and energetic as a teenager again," she continued. "Injuries and illnesses heal immediately, even broken bones and bullet wounds. Imagine waking up free of pain, eager and full alive again."
The old man leaned forward, head tilted. "I don't believe you. You are only stalling but why...?"
From the darkness beyond Pembroke Hill, so deafening it made everyone jump and gasp in primal fear, came the whiplash roar of a great cat.
VII.
Taller and more massive than the largest horse that ever lived, the Black Lion hurtled in between the stone pillars, upsetting two of them so that they crashed over on their sides. Two of the Druids died at once, crushed flat between those huge front paws. A third was seized in fanged jaws with closed with utter finality.
Human courage was never meant to stand up to such a sight. The Black Druids shrieked shamelessly and raced down the sloping side of Pembroke Hill so fast that they stumbled and rolled out of control. But escape was denied them. Josef Jubilec had retrieved all the arrows he had used before in the oak grove. So rapidly that he seemed to firing wildly, he loosed those shafts with pin-point accuracy. Only one dark figure, who had taken the hit in his left ribs required a second arrow to finish him.
Between the Blind Archer and the Black Lion, it was mere slaughter. The cult of the Forgotten Ones did not even try to put up a fight and their attempts to escape were futile.
Concealing himself in the shadow of the Wicker Man, Eidurach managed to gather his wits after a moment. He leaned over to brandish his sorcerous staff again.
Sable shouted, "Ashley! Watch out for this one!"
The little blonde had already been moving toward the Wicker Man and now she raised her talisman overhead. "With this horn I remove thy power!"
All vitality drained from Eidurach as the Unicorn acted. He dropped his staff sagged down to his hands and knees, long white hair hanging over his downcast face.
"Yeah, you BETTER stay down, grandpa!" Ashley warned. "I don't like what you were gonna do to my friends. Megan! Sable! You two all right?"
With Josef helping, Ashley got both her partners up out of the effigy and stretched out comfortably on the grass. Sheng was now able to flex his limbs slightly. "Another half hour and I figure we'll be able to move again," he said. "Sable was trying to delay them barbecuing us long enough to make a fight."
Stalking into the uncertain light of all the dropped torches, the Black Lion loomed up over them. His thickly-maned head fixed green eyes over his teammates as if not recognizing them.
"Back to normal," ordered Sable. "You did your part, now it's time to turn back."
The enormous beast seemed not to understand her words. Everyone held their breath without realizing it. Reluctantly, the cat shuddered, shrank and resumed Human form. Levon Bingham stood up again, spat on the ground and wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. "I did NOT enjoy that," he said. "But it had to be done."
With Josef helping her sit up, Sable was trying to draw her legs up under team. "Everybody, listen. We need to leave this area. Seems like there are about forty dead bodies who were alive when we got here."
"You can't say they didn't deserve it," grumbled Sheng. He was able by then to move his arms almost within normal range of motion.
"True. But even if they were murderous Black Magic practitioners, I bet most of them have family, friends, employers. There will be people wondering what happened to these Druids and probably turning up here to poke around," Sable said. "I don't want to try to explain it all to the police."
"Well, that's a good point," Sheng admitted.
Behind some bushes at the far side of Pembroke Hill, Unicorn whistled, ""Hey! I found all your gear. Do you guys want your clothes? What am I saying..?"
As she rushed past the Wicker Man effigy with an armload of the field suits, Ashley paused to give the sitting Eiderach a withering glance. "Stay right there, mister. You wouldn't get too far, you notice Josef still has a few arrows left."
To everyone's relief, all of the gear was present, including the tiny weapons and gadgets hidden in concealed pockets. The dart guns and Links had not even been touched, it seemed, as they would not have worked while the Druids' spell was active. Increasingly, the three members who had been spellbound were recovering. Megan was first to be able to stand unsupported, wobbly on her feet but determined.
"I have been of no use on this mission," she grumbled, leaning up against one of the stone pillars.
"See, that's how we know you have emotions," remarked Ashley as she helped Sheng tug on his heavy boots. "If you were a genuine Trom and not a Human girl, you wouldn't feel left out or anything..."
What Megan might have replied will not be known. At that second, a roaring gush of flame shot up from with the Wicker Man with a piercing scream that ended abruptly. All the KDF members swung around ready for an attack but eased up as they saw what had happened.
"Oh my God," Unicorn said. "It was Eidurach. He climbed in there with a torch. Look at that thing burn. What did they soak it with, lighter fluid or something?"
"A quick death if briefly painful," Levon said. He had been standing off by himself since he had regained his normal shape. "I say it is just as well."
Sable was up on her feet, holding Josef's shoulder until she felt steadier. "I think you're right, Levon. I don't know if we can believe half of what he told us... About the sacrifices placating the Forgotten Ones and averting the apocalypse. Maybe it was true. In that case, his death might be for the greater good."
Facing the blazing construct as it shot red flames and yellow sparks up into the black sky, Unicorn sighed. "I guess. I don't know what we were supposed to do with him, anyway. We couldn't turn him over to the authorities and we don't keep prisoners any longer than we have to."
"Back to the CORBY," Sable said. "Ash, Josef, Levon, you might have to give the three of us some help hiking. My knees feel like rubber."
Experimenting with walking on his own, Sheng said, "You know, one thing is on my mind, Sable. When you were keeping Eidurach from cooking us, what would you have done if our other team hadn't come running in to the rescue?"
Lauren Sable Reilly allowed herself a chuckle. "You didn't know me back in college, Sheng. I could stall guys for hours talking sheer blarney."
11/19/2022
11/22/2003
I.
At the head of the long table, Sable pressed her hands out flat and stared down at them. "It's true. I have been getting dozens of reports from our observers all over the British Isles and Northwestern Europe. Friday night, an unexplained wave of gruesome crimes broke out. People mutilating animals for no reason, cutting out the eyes out of cats and dogs. People harming themselves, slicing long gouges across their own faces, burning their hands in fires, tearing off their own ears. Many brutal murders. And there are reports of thousands of people too exhausted and traumatized to go to work or school because of nightmares which left them shivering and wet with cold sweat."
"Ack, " said Unicorn. "Any of this in the news media? I haven't noticed it."
"No. A few scattered reports in local newspapers and TV stations of the less troubling atrocities. I think it's clear the authorities are consciously suppressing coverage and hushing it all up. But Facebook and the other online sites are on fire. People were hesitant to connect the horrors at first but now the phrase 'the Long Dark Night' has broken out and is referred to everywhere." Sable raised her head and her dark eyes fixed on their visitor. "And this is what you have come to warn us about, isn't it?"
Seated at the other end of that table where four generations of Tel Shai heroes had assembled, Eidurach lifted his bony long-fingered hands and gestured wildly. "That night was but the beginning. It has been seven days and the darkest forces have gathered again. Tonight will be far worse and the next Friday night even more dreadful."
Eidurach's long straight white hair and beard shone in the subdued overhead lighting of the conference room. His gaunt face with its prominent cheekbones and pointed nose was unsettling to see, he reminded everyone of starvation victims. The loose, bell-sleeved white tunic under a heavy cloak of bull hide added to his dramatic image. "Deep in the earth, Forgotten Ones stir angrily and begin to send their murderous hatred up toward us."
"And how do you know of all this?" demanded Josef Jubilec bluntly. The Blind Archer was not one for tact.
"I am the last of the True Druids," said Eidurach. "Our wisdom must never be written down, only passed on in song and recitations. As a boy, my grandfather taught me much so that I would never forget the lore. Ages ago when we were many, our chants and ceremonies served to keep the Forgotten Ones drowsy and harmless but now I alone am left. The new warlocks, the Black Druids, have replaced us. Their sacrifices with golden sickles and Wicker Men have rousted the Forgotten Ones."
Seated to Sable's left, Sheng Mo-Yuan lifted one hand in protest. His normally mild voice had a sharper tone to it. The young Chujiran man was the most scholarly and intellectually curious of the new team. "Hang on a second. I've done some reading on this. The Druids weren't a blasphemous cult or anything. That was propaganda from the Romans and the early Christians to get rid of them. The Druids were like, teachers and lawyers and healers and historians. They've been unfairly stereotyped."
"You speak of my kind, the True Druids. We were the wise men and women of the oak groves. But by the time the legions of Rome marched over Britain, we had been mostly supplanted by the Black Druids." Eidurach's deepset blue eyes had dark shadows under them as they burned feverishly. "Of all the schools of knowledge left on this fallen world, I fear only the Order of Tel Shai might still be able to act against this coming cataclysm."
"It does sound like exactly what Tel Shai was founded to handle," Sable replied. She did not say so, but her gift of enhanced perception had been studying their visitor. Sable could hear and count his heartbeats from twelve feet away. She could smell the adrenalin traces in his sweat, she could hear the subvocal tremors no amount of guile could disguise, she could watch how his pupils contracted and widened as he spoke. Her team knew her powers and understood she was using them as the most accurate lie detection process possible. All her readings were behind her next statement, "For the moment, we believe you, Eidurach. Tell us more."
"It has been longer than I realized since I had counseled with Tel Shai knights. Where is the Dire Wolf? In this crisis, we need the power of Khang, the wisdom of the Eyeless Helmet, the resolve of Sulak. I had hoped to meet with the Silver Skull and the Cat's-Claw. I came seeking the greatest heroes of this era but I see only young unlined faces watching me with dismay."
"We ARE the knights of Tel Shai," Sable told him. "Khang has been destroyed. Nebel doesn't wear Sagehelm any more, Sulak stays in his realm of Androval. The Silver Skull was killed and no replacement has turned up, but at least Levon here bears Cat's Claw. What you see here is the new generation, like it or not."
"Hey, I think we deserve a little respect," interrupted Unicorn. The petite blonde was also dressed all in white and her platinum hair was as bright as their visitor's, but her face had delicate features that were in complete contrast to the Druid's withered countenance. "We're not babies. We have been fighting the Midnight War for three long years. This team been accepted at Tel Shai and we are full knights. Give us a little credit."
A tense silence followed her outburst. Then, grudgingly, Eidurach nodded in her direction. "Overlook any slight my words may have given. In this terrible moment, I must speak plainly."
"Okay, sorry if I over-reacted." Along with her teammates, Ashley turned to gaze at their captain. "So, Sable, this looks like another world-threatening cosmic crisis about to explode. Exactly what we signed up for."
"Yes," Sable responded. "Megan, warm up the CORBY and do the pre-flight check. Sheng, see if you can contact Jeremy, he was in Okali the last we heard from him. We're assembling in the hangar at ten sharp, full field suits and combat gear. The Midnight War has broken out again."
II.
While her team readied themselves, Sable escorted Eidurach to the kitchen. He had come to the KDF straight from a transatlantic flight and had not eaten or slept for a full day. She helped him make two thick sandwiches of roast beef and Swiss cheese which he devoured along with several cups of black coffee.
"You are thoughtful to consider my comfort," he said, finishing the last crumb. "I admit I was giving in to useless despair rather than gathering determination to fight this nightmare."
"Glad to play hostess," she said, sipping a tumbler of iced tea herself. She noticed again that although clean, his fingernails were long and pointed. "Of course, I have thousands of questions. How can your Druid knowledge have not have been gradually lost? It's been thousands of years since your priesthood was broken. Oral tradition only lasts so long."
Eidurach regarded her with apparent growing trust. "There is a ritual we undergo, the Unlocking. It releases deeply stored ancestral memories. When I underwent it as a youth, the weight of those merciless revelations left me raving and crawling like a beast for weeks until I could assimilate it all."
"Sounds like your wisdom is more of a burden than a gift."
"True enough. Isn't Tel Shai training similar?"
"Hmm. Not exactly," she said. "To me at least, it was more like a confirmation of ideas I had been hoping were true all my life. Tell you what. We won't be leaving for two hours, maybe I should bring you to a guest room on the fourth floor and you can get some sleep while you can."
For the first time since he had arrived at this headquarters building, the True Druid showed a faint vestige of a smile. "That would be most welcome. The flesh can only be driven by will power for so long. Thank you."
0nce she had seen Eidurach settled into one of the guest rooms, Sable slowly headed down the main staircase to the ground floor. She was more unsettled than she would allow herself to show. It sometimes troubled her that there were more aspects of the occult and supernatural than the Midnight War she knew. All her Tel Shai knowledge concentrated on the Seven Races and the adjacent realms. She knew nothing more about the Druids, True or Black, than what she remembered from a few magazine articles she had skimmed long ago.
The Forgotten Ones that Eidurach had mentioned, could they actually be Sulla Chun? Powerful malevolent beings imprisoned long ago and eager to be released... yes, that sounded like the Sulla Chun and there no worse threats than that in the Midnight War.
Back in the office, she contacted her team one by one. Megan reported the CORBY was ready for wheels up at any time. Sheng had not been able to reach Jeremy Bane, Sulak, Valera or any of the other Associate Members. Sable told her team to rest up while they could and be ready to move out at ten o'clock. She called Garrison Nebel at his home up in Bearsville and was greatly relieved when he answered. The Blind Mystic knew more about the secret worlds than any lore master short of Teacher Jathis at Tel Shai.
Nebel confirmed that he had known Eidurach and provided a detailed description which matched their visitor. He agreed that the Forgotten Ones were likely a variety of Sulla Chun and that their menace was apocalyptic in nature. Nebel also gave her information about the rituals performed by the Black Druids, including the burning of people and cattle in Wicker Man, the nailing of intestines to oak trees, and cannibalism of living victims. Sable felt a cold pang in her chest at hearing all this.
Finally, Nebel regretted he would not be joining them on this mission. His active combat days were behind him. Once he found someone suitable to wear the Eyeless Helmet, he would retire to Tel Shai and spend his remaining years annotating their archives.
Sable thanked him and said goodbye. She really wished he would have agreed to come along or at least let someone new take over the helmet Sagehelm, a major talisman that would be an immense help to have on hand. But trying to persuade Garrison Nebel was like getting a tree stump to change its mind.
It was already nine o'clock. Sable went to the kitchen to warm up the homemade chicken noodle soup which she ate with a sleeve of Saltines. Time to go up to her rooms for a shower and to change into her full field suit.
Leadership meant showing confidence even when she was uncertain. Trudging up the stairs to the third floor, Lauren Sable Reilly could at least admit to herself how worried she was about the outcome of this crisis.
IV.
Strapped to the bench in the rear compartment behind the cockpit, Eidurach sounded nervous. "How can we be going twice the speed the sound? I never heard of a helicopter that could break Mach-One, let alone go twice as fast?"
At the stick, Megan Salenger began clarifying, "Current airspeed is 1425 miles per hour, a little over 1235 knots. The CORBYs are not ordinary aircraft. They employ Trom technology which Humans will not match for at least fifty years at current rates of advancement. We have disengaged the rotors and cut in full impulse engines which are powered by strobe reactions...'
Sable cut her off, "Megan, it's better not to give away information like that."
"Yes. You are quite right." The Trom Girl sighed almost inaudibly. "Evidently working at such close quarters with Humans has loosened my sense of proper security."
"Now, don't start that again," Ashley said from where she was sitting on the floor of the rear compartment next to Levon. "You're as Human as the rest of us. Just because you were raised by those Trom doesn't mean you're as cold and unfeeling and super-boring as they are. Science Nerd," she added.
"In any case, we will be reaching the western coast of Cornwall shortly," Sable interrupted. "Eidurach tells us that the Black Druids will be performing sacrifices at two locations separated by two miles. First team, dropping off at the oak grove in Dunham Woods will be Sheng, Unicorn and Josef. Second team, going to the Wicker Man site, will be myself, Megan and Levon. Eidurach, do you want to accompany one of our teams or remain with the CORBY?"
The elderly Druid did not hesitate. "The Wicker Man ceremony is the more crucial of the two. I can be of more help there, Miss Reilly, my presence will act as a counter to the ceremonies."
"All right then. Megan, ETA for Dunham Woods?"
"One minute and twenty-five seconds," the Trom Girl answered. "Airspeed reduced to forty MPH. Rotors engaged in normal operation."
Peering down through the windscreen, Sable said, "New moon, overcast. With no external lights showing and stealth mode on, we should be as good as invisible to anyone on the ground. First team ready?"
"Gimme a second," Ashley grunted as she strapped a three foot long cylinder of white leather across her back.
Looking back through the clear divider, Sable said, "Your horn may not be completely effective out there, Ashley. Be ready to rely on your dart gun."
"What? Come on, this is THE Unicorn horn, it's neutralized bad guys for ages. You can count on it."
"Perhaps not," the True Druid warned. "Our magick is very ancient and perhaps stronger than yours."
"I don't THINK so," Ashley scoffed. "The Eldarin themselves ensorcelled the Unicorn horn thirty thousand years ago. That's Darthan Age stuff. You just don't get more potent than that."
Eidurach remained somber. "No one knows how ancient Druid knowledge truly is, my child. Much what was known has been lost. The Earth is covered with the dust of forgotten temples and the names of many gods are not remembered."
"Well, we'll see. Levon and I both have talismans that haven't failed us yet. Right, buddy?"
Of all the team, only Levon Bingham had not changed into one of the armored field suits with all their built-in weapons and devices. He wore a simple skin-tight pair of leggings and tunic with left his forearms and calves bare. Under that stalking suit on a fine ensalir chain hung the curved talon of his spiritual ancestor Wakimbe. The Cat's-Claw. But Levon did not say more than, "We do share great responsibility, Unicorn."
On the bench next to the Druid, Josef Jubilec had been examining the yew longbow he had crafted and broken in himself. Leaning up against his knee was a Y-shaped quiver which held ten arrows in each compartment. The Blind Archer normally had a deadpan expressionless face which gave away little of what he was thinking. At the moment, his dark blue eyes were harder to read than ever. "Ready, captain," was all he said.
"Landing gear lowered, we are touching down." At the stick, Megan landed the CORBY so deftly that no one felt the wheels touch the ground. Outside, far from any towns, the starless night was murky and ominous. Exiting through the side hatch, the three KDF members hopped out onto the dried grass of late fall. All around them, the forest of Dunham Woods stretched for miles. Their research had found this was restricted property owned by the family of the Earl of Dunham... a notorious debaucher and libertine with much to hide.
"Eidurach says the Oak Grove is north by northeast of where we stand," Sable told her team as she gazed out at them. "Two miles from here. You all know how to approach without being seen, but once you make contact, it's full combat mode. We have to stop these ceremonies no matter what.
"We've been through this a few times," Unicorn answered blithely. "The Three Witch Queens, the Stolen City. Heck, we've been dividing into teams since the start. As soon as we clear up this bunch, Sable, we'll hurry over to give you guys a hand."
"Good luck. It's almost midnight, time to roll." Sable pressed a button that closed the hatch and the CORBY rose straight up into the black void of the night. Even at close range, the Trom ship's rotors made no more noise than a stiff breeze might.
Left with Sheng in the rear compartment, Eidurach said, "The girl does not take this as seriously as she should. Soon, thousands will go mad again, more than last Friday's Long Dark Night. The suffering and death and cruelty will get worse with each ritual."
Sheng Mo-Yuan had been holding his helmet in his lap, now he lowered it down over his head but left the visor up. "Eh. Don't let Ashley's insolent way of talking mislead you. She was raised from childhood to be an adventurer by her mother, the first Unicorn. Ash is as tough as boiled leather under that attitude. And Josef was brought up by the cult of Blind Archers, he's even more hard-boiled. They'll get the job done."
"I pray to the three goddesses who rule our fates that you are right. Remember the dust of forgotten temples and that Black Magic goes back before written language, before the taming of fire. We challenge powers that men have dreaded from the first dawn."
The young Chujiran shrugged. "Wait and see what happens, sir. You're with the knights of Tel Shai now."
Sable said, "Slow to a hover, Megan. There! See those Lights? Torches. That's Pembroke Hill, where a very interesting Neolithic structure stands. So far, archeologists haven't been allowed to study it."
"It has long been the gathering place for the Black Druids," announced Eudarach in his sepulchral tones. "Can't you feel the prickling in the air? Evil deeper than mere Human evil is stirring within sight of us."
The lights in the cockpit flickered. Instantly, Megan Salenger snapped, "Taking us down," and the stealthcopter hit the ground with a jarring thump as its interior went completely dark.
"Hey, what's this all about?" demanded Sheng.
"All systems are dead," the Trom Girl responded. "It's as if we've entered an adjacent realm where technology doesn't function, My Link isn't working either."
"This must be an effect of the ceremony," said Eudarach. "In effect, we are back under Bronze Age law."
"But... this means I can't use any of my devices," Megan said with an unprecedented tremor in her voice.
"You are still a knight of Tel Shai with all your Kumundu skills."
"Yes, of course," the Trom Girl said. "Quite right.. What about your powers?"
"My perception is unaffected," replied Sable. "Sheng, what about you?"
The Chujiran Fighter took a second to check his abilities. "I'm shifting to invulnerability, now increased strength. Good. Enhanced speed is working. Good to go, captain. "
"Let's move out then." Sable unmatched the hatch by her side and stepped out into damp windy darkness. "The Black Druids are going to be surprised by three of the most dangerous people alive."
With Eudarach trailing behind them, the KDF members strode briskly up the long slope. Pembroke Hill was a vast artificial earth mound with a round flat top. Arranged in a circle on that summit were twelve stone pillars, each carved with a different scowling face revealed in the unsteady torchlight. Moving about the area, twenty men and women in long black robes were working on a terrifying effigy.
The Wicker Man. Sixty feet high, a crude construction of thousands of twigs and branches tied together with cord, it seemed somehow impossibly to be swaying and moving on its own in the flickering illumination of the torches. The Black Druids were dragging stone urns filled with flammable oil closer to the abomination, many of them softly singing in a language from before the first Celts entered the Isles.
Hanging back undetected in the darkness, Megan whispered to her partners, "Wait. Where are the intended victims ?"
"You're right," Sable said equally low. "They were supposed to have burned people and cattle in these things. Where are they?"
Standing behind them, Eudarach raised his gnarled staff and cried out the name of a God never written down. Paralyzing waves of force more chilling than the iciest water slammed the three KDF members to the ground, leaving them gasping and unable to move.
With a sweeping gesture, Eudarach flung off his bull hide cloak and white robe to reveal a black knee-length tunic. "Fools! Fools! You have brought the sacrifices here yourselves!"
V.
Skilled as they were, Ashley and Josef immediately realized that they could not nearly match Levon when it came to stealth. In his black stalking suit and with his dark skin, wearing low soft slippers rather than their boots, he seemed to literally vanish after he got a few feet ahead of them. They could not hear the faintest of dry leaves underfoot or catch more than the briefest glimpse of the new Cat's-Claw as he paused between flitting from one tree to the next.
"We might as well wait for him to recon and report back to us," Josef whispered after a few minutes.
"I think you're right," Unicorn said. "Drat, Levon makes me feel like a moose stomping around by comparison."
Proceeding more slowly and cautiously, the two of them made their way though the forest. Josef had strung his bow and was holding it ready, but had not yet drawn an arrow. In her own hands, Ashley gripped the unique Unicorn horn that her mother had wielded before her. A three foot spiral of ivory, one flat end capped with silver and the other tapering to a sharp point, the horn was warm to her touch. This meant they were near occult force both potent and malevolent. Ashley shifted her grip, ready to use the horn either for its mystic effect or as a weapon in a physical sense. She couldn't tell if Josef was getting as tense as she was. Every breath felt it was being taken against resistance.
Little more than a minute had passed. Her enhanced night vision had fully kicked in and she could discern that the elm and apple trees were overshadowed by giant oaks. Each hundreds of years old, stretching up sixty feet on average, the oaks seemed weirdly twisted and unhealthy in contrast to the other types. Many had round white objects nailed to their trunks at head level.. human skulls. The Unicorn was glad to have someone as formidable as the Blind Archer close to her.
Then, Levon stepped out from behind one of the oaks without warning. Ashley made a noise that could be transcribed as "Awrrk!" and whipped her horn around in readiness to swing it like a club. "Don't DO that!"
"There was only one sentry," the Cat's-Claw said in a normal tone. "Hurry. They will not notice us approaching. In the murk, his eyes flashed with a lambent green glint all their own. Levon wheeled around and took off at a sprint with Josef and Ashley right at his heels. They burst into a clearing dominated by a single gigantic oak more than a hundred feet high.
Blazing torches held high by a crowd of black-robed cultists revealed the gruesome scene in too much detail.
Hanging on the trunk of that thousand-year-old tree with arms and legs held up by copper spikes driven deep into the wood, three naked men and three naked women sagged down as life had left them. Their abdomens had been cut open. Pink ropes of their intestines stretched from one victim to the next to form a web between them. Most horrifying yet, a dozen more young people were stretched out on the ground with their hands and feet tied together. They were going to be next.
What was worst was that the Black Druids were laughing. Some held torches, some waved rough-hewn staffs. A few waved two-handled vicious sickles of gold that were still wet with fresh blood. But all they were roaring with laughter as if this horror was the funniest joke they had ever heard. In the black robes with cowls pulled up, nothing could be seen of their faces.
One of the Druids held up his sickle and cried out a phrase in a language no one but their priesthood spoke any more. He gestured at the youth stretched out before his feet and two of his fellows went over to fetch the next victim. With a hiss, a long thin shaft slid through his neck to remain with its barbed head sticking out behind him. Immediately, two more arrows thumped deeply into the chests of the two Druids next to him. All three hit the ground simultaneously without having realized what had ended their lives,
The laughter had been cut off instantly. A storm of long shafts whistled through the air like a swarm of furious birds of prey, each one sinking deep into a Druid with a loud thump. It only took a few seconds for twenty of the cultists to be struck down.
Facing them on the other side of the clearing, Josef Jubilec lowered his bow and pulled up the silk band he had tied over his eyes. With their natural sight cut off, the Blind Archers of Chujir elevated their perception so that they perceived life force. In utter darkness or snowstorms or thick smoke, they never missed. They were the most feared league of assassins in the Midnight War.
None of the Druids fled from that unexpected slaughter. All stood silent and frozen in place under an old man's voice shouted, "Can't you see he's out of arrows? Take him! Take him! Nail his guts to the Pembroke Tree!"
Seeing the mob of dark-robed figures raise their sharp-edged sickles and bludgeons, Ashley tapped her teammate on one shoulder. "Ummm, buddy? Now would be a good time to use your talisman."
Loping forward to meet the crowd, Levon Bingham dropped to his hands and toes and drew on the gift of the Claw of Wakimbe. His body swelled, changed, erupted outward to triple in size. A roar echoed for miles as the Black Lion charged the cult.
VI.
Dimly through a dull numbness, Sable felt herself being carried about and manhandled. The field suit jacket, shirt, trousers and boots were all yanked off her. To her dismay, cold air stung her body as even the silk-thin suit of flexible armor was stripped off. That never had happened. Somehow, the Druids had canceled tech to the point where even the paramagnetic seams holding the armor on had failed.
Her arms and legs would not respond at all. Indeed, she could barely feel them. Even in this situation, there was no room for doubt or panic in her thoughts. Sable was team leader because her mind was set for problem-solving. Cold and calm, she was running through what she might be able to come up.
She found herself being propped up in a seated position against one of the stone pillars encircling the Wicker Man. As she watched, Sheng and Megan were dragged over to be set against a pillar on either side of her. Both were naked also, both seemed limp and helpless. But she met their eyes as they were being set up. Neither showed fear, only anger and defiance. That was a great comfort. They had been in hopeless situations many times.
Eidurach gingerly lowered himself to one knee in front of her, supporting him with his staff. The Druid had placed a gold ring by his left nostril and now wore a thick golden torq around his wrinkled neck. His grin was unbearably smug.
After a few incoherent croaks, Sable managed to get out a hoarse whisper. "I didn't think anyone could deceive me..."
The Black Druid could not suppress his glee any longer and broke into open laughter which his fellow cult members shared. Finally, he wiped an eye with the back of his hand and said, "I admit to feeling clever about that, child. We knew of your abilities of course. For days now, I have been reinforcing self-hypnosis. I believed my story of being a noble spiritual True Druid. You could not find deceit because I had none."
"That is clever, " she admitted. "Next time I suspect someone, I will have to dig deeper."
"Next time? NEXT TIME? Are you trying to be brave? Your lives are going to be given to the Forgotten Ones. We will collect your body fat as it melts to fuel our ceremonial torches. Your screens will echo from one end of Dunham Woods to the other before dawn. There is no 'next time' for you, Miss Reilly."
Off to one side, Sheng Mo-Yuan interrupted. "And to think I spoke up for you nuts. I said the Druids weren't bad, they were wise men who had been trash talked by the Romans and the Christians!"
That prompted more laughter from the crowd of robed figures. EIdurach himself joined. "Yes, yes, the so-called True Druids are indeed sanctimonious charlatans! They dance in circles at dawn of the solstice and fool themselves into thinking they are bringing light into the world. They know nothing!"
"Not smart like you guys," taunted Sheng.
"What we know would leave their weak minds broken," Eidurach said. "Without our spells, the Forgotten Ones would wake entirely. They would scorch this world until it was more barren than the Moon. Giving them nights where Mankind goes mad acts as, how shall I put it, a safety valve. They blow off steam and return for another century of slumber."
Sable found she was beginning to regain feeling in her hands and feet. She could wiggle her fingers. The elevated healing from the Tagra regimen of Tel Shai was starting to work. But so slowly! Would Sheng recover sooner because of his gralic power of increases strength.
Turning to the crowd of black-shrouded figures, Eidurach raised his staff and called out, "Brothers and Sisters of the heavy wisdom, it is time. For once, we will not have to break the arms and legs of our sacrifices. Not the flames will roust them enough to try escape. "
The Druids came over to lift their prisoners up overhead. Sable could see the front of the bizarre Wicker Man figure was open and its hollow interior could accommodate herself, Sheng and Megan easily. There must be something she could do, some way she could stall the ceremony. But offers of money would not sway these fanatics. Neither would any warnings of retribution from the other KDF members still at large. The Druids expected that.
Sable was lowered into rough construct, it's sharp-edged branches and twigs scraping her skin. She could smell the flammable oil being soaked into the monstrous effigy, ready to be ignited. Now Megan Salenger was being carried over. She had not spoken since awakening from the sorcereous blast and her face was set in a deadpan expressionless mask that gave away nothing of what she must have been feeling.
"You're passing up a chance to learn Tel Shai knowledge!" Sable yelled.
Eidurach scoffed. "Playing for time? Really, I expected better from you."
"One hour. Just one hour delay," she said. "Our Order has knowledge imparted from Great Jordyn himself. Kumundu. The healing Tagra tea. Secret history of the Seven Races and the adjacent realms. No one else can teach you these things."
"You would break your sacred vow just to live a little longer?"
"Yes, yes. Every breath is precious. Do you want to know about Alchemy? Or where the Yellow Shield is hidden? You're not going to learn these things if you kill us right now."
Still leaning back against a stone pillar, Sheng
yelled, "Sable, no! Don't do it!"
"Tagra will make you as nimble and energetic as a teenager again," she continued. "Injuries and illnesses heal immediately, even broken bones and bullet wounds. Imagine waking up free of pain, eager and full alive again."
The old man leaned forward, head tilted. "I don't believe you. You are only stalling but why...?"
From the darkness beyond Pembroke Hill, so deafening it made everyone jump and gasp in primal fear, came the whiplash roar of a great cat.
VII.
Taller and more massive than the largest horse that ever lived, the Black Lion hurtled in between the stone pillars, upsetting two of them so that they crashed over on their sides. Two of the Druids died at once, crushed flat between those huge front paws. A third was seized in fanged jaws with closed with utter finality.
Human courage was never meant to stand up to such a sight. The Black Druids shrieked shamelessly and raced down the sloping side of Pembroke Hill so fast that they stumbled and rolled out of control. But escape was denied them. Josef Jubilec had retrieved all the arrows he had used before in the oak grove. So rapidly that he seemed to firing wildly, he loosed those shafts with pin-point accuracy. Only one dark figure, who had taken the hit in his left ribs required a second arrow to finish him.
Between the Blind Archer and the Black Lion, it was mere slaughter. The cult of the Forgotten Ones did not even try to put up a fight and their attempts to escape were futile.
Concealing himself in the shadow of the Wicker Man, Eidurach managed to gather his wits after a moment. He leaned over to brandish his sorcerous staff again.
Sable shouted, "Ashley! Watch out for this one!"
The little blonde had already been moving toward the Wicker Man and now she raised her talisman overhead. "With this horn I remove thy power!"
All vitality drained from Eidurach as the Unicorn acted. He dropped his staff sagged down to his hands and knees, long white hair hanging over his downcast face.
"Yeah, you BETTER stay down, grandpa!" Ashley warned. "I don't like what you were gonna do to my friends. Megan! Sable! You two all right?"
With Josef helping, Ashley got both her partners up out of the effigy and stretched out comfortably on the grass. Sheng was now able to flex his limbs slightly. "Another half hour and I figure we'll be able to move again," he said. "Sable was trying to delay them barbecuing us long enough to make a fight."
Stalking into the uncertain light of all the dropped torches, the Black Lion loomed up over them. His thickly-maned head fixed green eyes over his teammates as if not recognizing them.
"Back to normal," ordered Sable. "You did your part, now it's time to turn back."
The enormous beast seemed not to understand her words. Everyone held their breath without realizing it. Reluctantly, the cat shuddered, shrank and resumed Human form. Levon Bingham stood up again, spat on the ground and wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. "I did NOT enjoy that," he said. "But it had to be done."
With Josef helping her sit up, Sable was trying to draw her legs up under team. "Everybody, listen. We need to leave this area. Seems like there are about forty dead bodies who were alive when we got here."
"You can't say they didn't deserve it," grumbled Sheng. He was able by then to move his arms almost within normal range of motion.
"True. But even if they were murderous Black Magic practitioners, I bet most of them have family, friends, employers. There will be people wondering what happened to these Druids and probably turning up here to poke around," Sable said. "I don't want to try to explain it all to the police."
"Well, that's a good point," Sheng admitted.
Behind some bushes at the far side of Pembroke Hill, Unicorn whistled, ""Hey! I found all your gear. Do you guys want your clothes? What am I saying..?"
As she rushed past the Wicker Man effigy with an armload of the field suits, Ashley paused to give the sitting Eiderach a withering glance. "Stay right there, mister. You wouldn't get too far, you notice Josef still has a few arrows left."
To everyone's relief, all of the gear was present, including the tiny weapons and gadgets hidden in concealed pockets. The dart guns and Links had not even been touched, it seemed, as they would not have worked while the Druids' spell was active. Increasingly, the three members who had been spellbound were recovering. Megan was first to be able to stand unsupported, wobbly on her feet but determined.
"I have been of no use on this mission," she grumbled, leaning up against one of the stone pillars.
"See, that's how we know you have emotions," remarked Ashley as she helped Sheng tug on his heavy boots. "If you were a genuine Trom and not a Human girl, you wouldn't feel left out or anything..."
What Megan might have replied will not be known. At that second, a roaring gush of flame shot up from with the Wicker Man with a piercing scream that ended abruptly. All the KDF members swung around ready for an attack but eased up as they saw what had happened.
"Oh my God," Unicorn said. "It was Eidurach. He climbed in there with a torch. Look at that thing burn. What did they soak it with, lighter fluid or something?"
"A quick death if briefly painful," Levon said. He had been standing off by himself since he had regained his normal shape. "I say it is just as well."
Sable was up on her feet, holding Josef's shoulder until she felt steadier. "I think you're right, Levon. I don't know if we can believe half of what he told us... About the sacrifices placating the Forgotten Ones and averting the apocalypse. Maybe it was true. In that case, his death might be for the greater good."
Facing the blazing construct as it shot red flames and yellow sparks up into the black sky, Unicorn sighed. "I guess. I don't know what we were supposed to do with him, anyway. We couldn't turn him over to the authorities and we don't keep prisoners any longer than we have to."
"Back to the CORBY," Sable said. "Ash, Josef, Levon, you might have to give the three of us some help hiking. My knees feel like rubber."
Experimenting with walking on his own, Sheng said, "You know, one thing is on my mind, Sable. When you were keeping Eidurach from cooking us, what would you have done if our other team hadn't come running in to the rescue?"
Lauren Sable Reilly allowed herself a chuckle. "You didn't know me back in college, Sheng. I could stall guys for hours talking sheer blarney."
11/19/2022
no subject
Date: 2024-12-24 06:55 pm (UTC)All of which reminds me that I still have a box of all the original manuscripts from pre-Internet days, yellowing paper covered with typewritten texts and lots of scribbled corrections. About 75% of them have been revised and rewritten into the current canon but I think there are still some there I should try to salvage. The adventures of the Heirs of Buliwfyf with Haley's mother Lisa and the rest of the Lawson family in the caverns of the Ice Ogres. Or the Dark Alliance, the Siege of Androval, Assault On Tel Shai, a few others. What a strange hobby this is.