torg 01 - Storm Knights (31 page)

"I know you will."

Powell left then, and the chamber seemed extremely empty.

"John, we have to discuss the proposal now," said Ellen Conners.

"Ellen, you know what I think of this proposal. If the powers it grants were to be abused, it could eliminate everything this country stands for."

"Dangerous times demand dangerous measures, John," said Quartermain, leaning back in his chair.

"The Delphi Council will report directly to the Executive Branch, allowing decisions of import to be made quickly, without the delays of Congress that could cost us this war. That is what is important, especially in light of what you have done today," Conners explained.

Wells looked first at Conners, then at Quartermain. Both nodded, and Conners pushed the document in front of him.

"Sign it, John," she said.

"Sign it," Quartermain coaxed.

Wells read the first line. "By Executive Order ..." The document scared him, but the arguments that Conners and Quartermain had made to him over the last few weeks also held a ring of truth. He hoped he was doing the right thing. He reached into his coat pocket, searched for a moment, then laughed softly. "I seem to have lost my pen."

Quartermain pulled out his own and handed it to the president. "Here, John, use mine."

"Then, let the Delphi Council be formed," Wells declared as he signed his name in the space provided.

98

Thratchen slowly pushed the door wide. Within the Gaunt Man's tower room, the darkness device called Heketon was glowing brightly. Thratchen watched from the doorway, hoping to learn something before the Gaunt Man noticed him.

The Gaunt Man was kneeling before the black heart, staring into its glowing surface. He was watching a scene. The image was of a great gorge carved out of the earth. It was a breathtaking sight.

"That is where they are going, Thratchen," the Gaunt Man said, aware of Thratchen's presence. "To a hole in the ground that contains an eternity shard. But my forces will reach the spot first. I no longer care to learn from these stormers. I simply want them dead."

"Who can beat them to the canyon, master? Kurst is behind them, and to send another flight of ravagons will take ."

The Gaunt Man stood and walked to the mirror that hung upon the wall. "It is not your concern. Leave now."

"As you wish," Thratchen replied, slowly closing the door. But before it clicked shut, he heard the Gaunt Man call forth an image in the mirror.

He heard him call for Malcolm Kane.

99

Father Bryce, at the wheel of the van, could tell that the vehicle was dying. They were still a few miles from Columbus, on the edge of the storm front, but he knew that they would have to find another van. The sign ahead said that they were near the town of Flat Rock, so Bryce took the exit.

"What's up, Father?" Alder asked from his place in the back of the van. He was recovering from his wounds, but was still taking it easy.

"The engine is overheating, and there's a weird hum. I don't think we're going much further in this van, and I thought a town would be a much better place to conk out than on the highway."

Another sign proclaimed "Flat Rock, Population 436." Bryce smiled. "How quaint! A real small town in middle America."

His joviality faded as they drove closer, however. There was something wrong up ahead. It couldn't be the dinosaurs, though. Those were still behind them. But the feeling would not go away.

"Look," exclaimed Mara, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

Bryce followed her pointing finger to the edge of the small town. There were mannequins hanging from buildings, from lamp posts, from telephone poles. However, as the van crawled closer, the priest saw that they weren't mannequins.

"My God, what's happened here?"

The bodies were all hanging upsidedown. Each had a gaping hole in its chest, its heart cut away.

"It's like what we saw in Newark," Coyote said. "But the lizards didn't tie ropes around the others."

"The lizards haven't gotten this far yet, Coyote," Alder stated, "and even if they did, I don't think they would use rope."

"Rope is dead thing. Edeinos do not use dead things. Edeinos did not do this," Tal Tu explained.

Bryce stopped the van, and Rat slid open the side door.

"There are more than fifty of them," Rat counted as he and the others exited the van. Tal Tu, by habit, remained inside.

Tolwyn had a grim look upon her face. "The villains who did this deed must pay."

Suddenly a great banging sounded, and figures appeared in the doorways of the buildings. These figures were alive, and they advanced on the group, banging sticks upon the ground and making an awful racket.

Mara and Rick pulled out their guns, while Bryce, Tolwyn, Coyote and Rat gathered around them. The crowd was a ragged looking bunch of men, women and children. They appeared to be refugees that had claimed the town as their own. They stopped advancing about a dozen yards from the group, forming a semi-circle around them.

"It's just like Kane said," one of the older men called out. "More sacrifices have come to us."

"More sacrifices!" another yelled, and the chant was picked up by the whole crowd.

"Rick, we can't shoot all of these people," Mara said.

"At least not before they were on top of us," Alder agreed. "But we can't let them take us without a fight."

The old man raised his stick into the air, and the

chant died down. He looked at the group, then smiled. "We have a way to keep the lizards at bay. They cannot enter our town as long as we keep the warnings posted!"

"Post more warnings! Post more warnings!" the crowd echoed.

"Kane taught us that. He showed us how to post warnings that the lizards would understand."

Bryce felt sick. Who could have convinced these poor, scared people that murder was the way to save themselves?

"He told us to watch for a van carrying a priest," the old man continued. "That would be the next set of warnings we would have to post."

"I don't like the way this is developing, Father," Alder said, raising his revolver slightly.

The crowd started forward then, slowly moving toward the group. Coyote turned to the van and shouted, "Tal Tu, come out!"

"What are you ...?" Bryce began, but he stopped when a cry of alarm raced through the crowd.

"Kane lied!" one woman cried.

"The warnings didn't work," a man moaned.

"The lizards have come!" another shouted, and the crowd scattered back into the buildings.

Bryce turned to see Tal Tu leaning back upon his tail beside the van. He seemed to have a very satisfied look on his lizard face.

"Come on," Alder warned, "let's get back in the van before they realize we have just one lizard."

100

Andrew Decker navigated the minibus around the flock of winged lizards in the road ahead. Kurst was in the seat next to him, curiously watching every move he made.

"What's the matter, Kurst?" Decker joked, "never seen anyone drive a standard before?"

"No," Kurst replied.

They came across the minibus while they were walking along I-80, and Decker decided to give it a try. He had never actually attempted to operate the jeeps once they gave out, but he had made the M-16 work when none of the other marines had been able. So he opened the door, found the key in the ignition, and turned it. On the second try the engine coughed. On the third try it turned over, and they were on their way.

They drove in silence for awhile. Kurst did not seem to be much of a conversationalist, although they did talk the night before. He was a strange fellow, but not overly so. In fact, with all that was going on around them, Kurst was behaving rather well.

Without knowing why, Decker turned off the highway and took a smaller road south. He was cutting down much earlier than he had planned to, but he had a hunch that this was the road to take. Decker, ever since his baseball days, had always followed his hunches.

"Follow your feelings, Decker," Kurst said, somehow picking up on the congressman's thoughts.

The road twisted and curved through the countryside, refusing to follow a straight path. Decker maintained his speed though. He felt that time was important all of a sudden, that it was imperative he reach the end of this road. When he saw the sign for Flat Rock, it was like a bolt of energy shot through him.

"We have to go to Flat Rock," he explained.

"So it would seem," replied Kurst.

They saw the mutilated bodies hanging from the poles and buildings first, then they saw the crowd. Dozens of refugees were converging on a battered and torn van. But an occasional gun shot or flash of light drove them back into the few buildings that made up the town.

Decker gunned the minibus, screeching to a halt alongside the van. He looked into the open window and saw the woman with the emerald eyes looking back at him. "I've come a long way to find you, miss," he was finally able to say.

"And I," Kurst echoed.

"Then make room in your magic chariot, because we do not want to share the same fate as those hanging above us," the emerald-eyed woman said, indicating the mutilated bodies with a nod of her head.

Then her and her companions — a priest, a wounded man, two boys, a young woman with wild silver hair, and a lizard man with a cat — piled into the minibus. Without asking any questions, Decker pressed down on the gas pedal and drove off, leaving the angry crowd of Flat Rock behind them.

101

Once he had put twenty miles of road between themselves and Flat Rock, Decker pulled off the road and stopped the minibus. He gave the disheveled group the once over, then introduced himself and Kurst.

"I am Tolwyn of House Tancred," the emerald-eyed woman said. "And these are my companions, Christopher Bryce, Rick Alder, Dr. Hachi Mara-Two, Tal Tu, Coyote and Rat."

Decker examined each in turn, trying to get a handle on the people and why they were together. He gave up after the lizard was given a name. He paused to think for a second, then decided to be honest with them.

"I've seen you in dream, Miss Tolwyn," he started, hoping he didn't sound as crazy to her and it did to his own ears. "I knew I had to find you, to help you."

"What?" exclaimed the priest. Decker ignored him for the moment.

"But I have to tell you the truth, you're not the main part of this recurring dream." Decker saw that Tolwyn's eyes were wide, and the others were looking at them both, weird expressions on their faces. "I'm looking for a stone. It is blue — turquoise actually — and it ..."

". is full of swirls of crimson," Tolwyn finished. The group was quiet for a time, trying to fathom the implications of this meeting. Then Tolwyn said, "I have been waiting for you as well, Decker. The knots ... you are one of the black man's knots ..."

"That isn't part of my dream, I'm afraid," Decker confessed.

"Do you know where the stone is, Decker?" Tolwyn asked hopefully.

Decker shook his head. "Somewhere out west is all I know."

"Yes, in a great canyon."

"That's more than I knew."

"If we're done comparing dreams, I suggest we get moving," the priest said. "I for one would like to get out of this area before nightfall."

The others agreed. Decker started the minibus and drove back onto the highway heading west.

102

The Gaunt Man leaned against a great well that stood behind his manor. It was thirty feet across, a huge hole that fell into darkness. The hole was rimmed by huge stone blocks, carved with scenes of battles between men and monsters. Standing some distance away was Scythak, the huge hunter. He held a prisoner, one of the natives from the island. Beside them was Thratchen.

"Bring the stormer forward," the Gaunt Man ordered, never taking his eyes from the dark hole.

Scythak shoved the native toward the Gaunt Man, using but a fraction of his great strength. The High Lord of horror gently positioned the man before the well.

"I must prepare for the worst," the Gaunt Man explained, pulling a large dagger from the folds of his black outfit. The native's eyes grew wide, but he did not run. The Gaunt Man admired that.

He grabbed the prisoner by the arm and lifted him over the well. With a casual swipe of the blade, blood flowed from the man and dripped into the well. Somewhere deep below the ground, a great roar sounded. The Gaunt Man dropped the prisoner into the well and called out, "Come forth, Carredon! Come forth, my destroyer!"

Dark water splashed over the sides of the well, and a nightmare creature rose out of its depths. It was a dragon-like monster with wings as black as night and scales of armor. Blood covered its terrible, tooth-filled maw—the remains of the prisoner. It stepped out of the well, dwarfing even Scythak with its size and power.

"You have summoned me, my master?" the Carre-don roared, its voice projecting waves of fear that even Thratchen felt.

"I have a mission for you, Carredon," the Gaunt Man said. "Listen well to what I say."