CHAPTER TWENTY:
SWARMS

The last time he had almost died, Ezra Standish was struck by how blue the sky was, despite the carnage surrounding him. In the aftermath of the battle that left him broken and bleeding, what struck Ezra most about the whole situation was the contrasting beauty of the sky above, when around him there was nothing but death.

He had been lying against the cooling body of his beloved horse Chaucer, who had been his mount for most of the war, trying not to weep tears because Ezra was forced to put a bullet in the animal’s head to end its suffering.  In the charge that left him with an almost certain mortal wound, Chaucer was felled by a broken leg and riddled with bullets. Aware he would not be long for the world after, the gambler had sworn his last act on Earth would not be to let his trusted steed suffer. 

Once the deed was done, Ezra had relinquished his hold on the weapon, allowing it to tumble into the mud next to him. Instead, he reached into his soiled tunic and retrieved the deck of cards he’d carried with him throughout the war, feeling a little closer to the mother he had not spoken to since joining the army.

Around him, the battle raged on but Ezra was beyond noticing since he was preparing to die. After three years in the trenches, seeing so many others die, their bodies lying across No Man’s Land like uncovered graves, Ezra knew he intended to shake off the mortal coil with dignity.

Appearances Ezra, his darling mother would say. Appearances are everything. 

However, it appeared he would not be meeting his end alone when Vin Tanner skidded next to him. Covered in mud and clearly showing his age, Ezra once again wondered how on Earth any recruiter could have seen a young man when it was so clearly a child in front of him. Vin was trying not to panic, even though his blue eyes widened like saucers seeing Ezra’s current condition.

“Sit with me, Private Tanner,” Ezra had offered him a smile, trying to assuage the terror he saw in Vin’s eyes. For himself, Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington, it was almost reflex to comfort the boy. “Indulge me in a game as I see out the end.”

“No!” Vin balked at the suggestion. “I’m gonna get you help! You can’t die! You...you...ain’t told me what happens to Hercules when he goes to fight them lady Amazons. We still got more labours to get through!”

Despite the pain he was suffering, the life draining out of his body, Ezra couldn’t help smile at recalling those fireside chats where the boy would listen in rapt attention as Ezra filled his head with tales of minotaurs and flying horses. Vin had emerged from the orphanage with a middling ability to read and it occupied Ezra’s time strengthening those skills to an acceptable level.

“I’m sure I’ve aided your reading enough for you to pick up a book without my assistance. I’m sure you’ll be able to read the conclusion of our Greek hero’s adventures on your own.”
“NO!” Vin had shouted vehemently and run off, leaving him on the battlefield to stare at the sky and resign himself to the fact, he was going to die alone.

Today, the sky was that same shade of blue and Ezra wondered if Lady Luck was trying to tell him something. Especially when he stood at the edge of the denuded roof of the ancient ziggurat, staring into the horizon of dunes and craggy terrain, straining to listen for the sound both he and Nathan recognised almost immediately.

Not that either Buck or Josiah was in any way less expert than them in such matters. Both men could identify, just by the rumble it made and know immediately, that screed in the air wasn’t the hard wind blowing but the subtle nuances of a piston engine. From a BMW114 to a Manasco Buccaneer, Buck and Josiah knew their craft well enough to be able to identify, the make, model and the function of a plane’s engine before it even appeared in the sky.

Just like he and Nathan recognised the thunder of horses when they heard it.

With white robes flowing around him, he looked very much like Lawrence must have done, comfortable among the desert dwellers, save for the sea green eyes squinting into the distance, trying to see past the landscape of craggy hills and rolling dunes to determine the direction of where the charge was coming.   Just like he had been when he was astride Chaucer, the horse he still missed, staring into the ruined landscape surrounding the Oise River, Ezra wondered the same thing.

Where was the charge coming from?

“How many do you think?” Nathan asked, no trace of usual mischief in his voice.  Nathan had joined the cavalry after the Oise-Aisne Offensive but mostly functioned as K Troop’s medic. The true cavalryman was Ezra, who had ridden alongside Chris Larabee since the beginning of the war.  If Nathan could detect the riders on approach, Ezra would be the one capable of offering more specific information.

Ezra didn’t speak, he merely listened. Closing his eyes, he took stock of the clouds of dust beginning to appear on the horizon, how far they stretched across the dunes, the rumble of hoofbeats and the low rise of a war cry, growing in tempo as it approached. When he faced Nathan again, the pleasant gambler’s demeanour, so full of affable charm was gone.  In its place was an expression of hard steel, a look Nathan recognised when the man was about to make the kill.

“Mr Sanchez, we have incoming!”  He shouted. “Gentlemen, I believe we may be in for a deluge.”

“Oh shit!” Nathan swore and saw Josiah hurrying towards the machine gun he set up a short time ago, getting into position behind the sight in readiness to fire.

“What have we got?” Buck demanded as he hurried up to Ezra, his eyes searching the dunes and finally catching sight of the dust cloud approaching them. He couldn’t tell exactly how many of the Erran were approaching them, but it took no feat of genius to know that there were a lot.

“At least a regiment,” Ezra remarked as they faced the hordes converging on them. “Our best option at present is to cut down their numbers before they reach us.”

“What about Chris and the others?” Nathan asked, glancing at the entrance to the temple.

“They’re on their own,” Buck stated before Ezra could. “With any luck, he’ll hear the ruckus and do what he has to do to keep the girls safe or lay low until it’s all over.”

“It may not end the way we wish,” Ezra pointed out.

“That’s what I like about you Ezra,” Buck scowled. “Always with the optimism.”

“I prefer a dose of reality.”

“I prefer it if you three get your asses into position before they get here!” Josiah hollered at them, his normally gravelly but erudite voice sounding like a demand from the Almighty above.

“Right,” Buck agreed, thinking Ezra’s strategy and Josiah’s order was a good one. Searching the breadth of the platform they were occupying, he spotted a large enough slab of stone behind which to take cover. “See you over the top.”

“Could you pick a better salutation, Mr Wilmington!” Ezra grumbled as they spread out evenly across the plateau, each settling into their own nooks, taking cover from the inevitable barrage of artillery they would soon be forced to deal with.

Ezra found himself a similar refuge, the remains of a wall that had long since crumbled, leaving behind only a few feet of bricks for him to use as cover.  His own Ceska Zbrojovka vz. 30 poised ready to fire, he held his breath watching for the enemy to come into view. He could hear their voices now, riding the wave of a battle cry that rode the dry, desert wind rolling towards them.

They rode out of the dust storm created by their mounts, like the horsemen of the Apocalypse and as many as Ezra had thought they were going to be, there were more. Just looking at the line of riders on fast approach to their location, Ezra knew there were almost fifty of them, about to overrun the temple. It was more than ten to one odds without Chris, Vin and JD in attendance and the gambler in Ezra knew poor odds when he saw it.

However, that didn’t matter, they were going to have to hold the line, just as they had done in the war.

“Jesus!” Ezra heard Buck exclaim.  The pilot was unaccustomed to facing a battle from this vantage point and Ezra knew, he was going to have to step in and take control of the situation in Chris Larabee’s absence.

“Steady!” Ezra shouted to his comrades. “Do not fire until they are within range of your weapons! We must make every bullet count if we are to prevail!”

“Just say the word,” Josiah called back. “And I’ll let God sort it out for himself.”

As they faced front, watching the enemy through the crosshairs of their weapons, the riders approaching were undoubtedly Erran. As they became more than specks in the distance, the four men waiting to receive them with artillery fire recognised the distinct red robes and wondered if they knew such colours did not aid this ambush. If nothing else, it made it easier to pin down targets. 

Three of the four waited for the gambler to give them the word, it was Nathan who was reminded that next to Chris Larabee, the highest ranking officer had been one Ezra P Standish. The gambler, despite being a pernickety cynic, was capable of employing the formidable intellect that made him such an expert cardsharp at the tables, to military strategy when the moment took him.  In recent years, Vin Tanner had taken up the role as Chris’s Lieutenant but Nathan remembered the time when it was Ezra they looked to for direction when Chris was occupied elsewhere.

“FIRE!” Ezra shouted.

The explosion of gunfire was deafening and as four guns blazed in unison, its sound travelling across the desert terrain like claps of thunder, their effects were evidenced by the tumbling of bodies into the sand as the bullets met their mark. Gaps began to appear in the line of riders as bodies fell and horses pulled up in an effort to avoid them. The battle cry began to rise in pitch and fervour and that was murderous vengeance they could hear in the enemy’s approach.

Ezra saw the incoming riders and knew without a doubt in his mind, that he and his friends were not going to be able to stop them.

*****

“Those are Arabian fat-tailed scorpions!” JD exclaimed as the swarm came towards them, quickly covering the walls as well as the ceiling of the chamber they had entered. “They’re native to this area and pretty lethal. I think they inject some kind of neurotoxin.”

Both Chris and Vin let out an exasperated groan corresponding perfectly with the predictable squeal of horror from the two women next to them following that statement.  As it was, the tide of black, bloated bodies, each the length of a man’s hand, scurrying across the faded tiles of the columns in front of them and along the fresco-covered walls, were forcing both of them into retreat, towards the steps they had descended to reach this chamber.

“Stay where you are!” Chris barked, using such a tone of command, it didn’t just freeze Mary and Alex in their tracks but startled JD and the Professor too. “We’ve got to get through them if we’re going to reach the tablet!”

“You must be joking!” 

Of course, it would be Mary that offered him argument.

“Use the torches!” Chris ordered grateful they hadn’t yet extinguished the flames on the torches carried by everyone except himself and Vin. Considering the circumstances, the torches were now their only protection against the arachnid deluge about to sweep past them.

“Alex, stay close to me!” Vin told the lovely young doctor who obeyed without question, having concluded since she met him, there wasn’t much beyond the sharpshooter’s ability. Since they’d met, despite all the insanity they seemed to get into, his ability to navigate her through it couldn’t be questioned.

“No problem there!” She bit back as the first of the scorpions came into view above their heads and she shuddered, raising her torch above her head and finding some sense of relief when the ceiling reappeared at the creatures retreat from the fire.

Meanwhile, JD and the Professor were flanking them, using their own torches to drive away the swarm of scorpions attempting to reach them.  Stemming from the rear entrance they had to pass to keep going, the swarm had almost covered half the chamber by now. It was clear no progress to the tablet could be achieved without first going through these creatures. Furthermore, the scorpions all seemed to be converging on the trespassers, trying to reach them from every direction.

Mary brushed up against Chris, staying close because she was terrified and wished she’d put her hair up when she came down here. Now more than ever, she was conscious of her golden locks and what might get ensnared in them. Waving the torch over her head as she saw the creatures scurrying on the ceiling, she hated showing vulnerability, especially in front of this man, whom she found intriguing if he were not such a chauvinistic jackass.

“Will you stop doing that?” Chris growled at her as she pressed her body against his as he tried to clear a path for them through the scorpions on the floor like Moses parting the Red Sea. The flames were forcing the creatures away and he felt his jaw clench in disgust watching them climbing over each other to escape the heat.

“Doing what?” Mary asked as she waved the torch once more, to keep the creatures from dropping onto his back and her hair. The idea of any of those monsters in her hair made her cringe in horror.

“Stop rubbing your body against me, it’s very distracting.”

Mary shot him and look and considered briefly turning her torch on him.  “This is hardly the time for you to practise your ancient mating rituals!”

“Really?” Chris grunted as scorpion fell from the ceiling in front of him and he swatted it aside with his torch, sending it tumbling into the darkness. “I don’t know, it’s dark, there’s candlelight and an interesting view.” He tossed her a smirk before facing front again.

“You are an idiot,” she bit back.

Chris didn’t answer because he was thinking hard. It was taking too long to get through this and sooner or later, they were going to get stung by one of these creatures. Perfectly aware of how dangerous this species was, Chris knew he was going to have to get creative before the women fainted or something. Yeah, he was being sexist but he was a product of his times and not about to apologise for it.

“JD, gimme that bottle of whiskey you got stashed in your pack!”

“This is not the time for drinking!” Mary stared at him aghast. Chris however, ignored her.

JD who was presently brushing off a scorpion that had fallen on the Professor’s pack with a torch straightened up in confusion until his mind quickly grasp what Chris was asking. 

“I gotcha Mr Larabee!” He said enthusiastically and quickly reached into the satchel he’d been careful to retrieve from the Shah’s boxcar before his escape and produced the bottle of Red Eye and handed it to Chris.

“You thinking we can make a run for it?” Vin asked, guessing Chris’s plan and decided it was a good idea. Alex was ready to climb on his back and the way she was handling that torch, someone was going to get singed pretty soon. She was mighty jumpy. The woman was perfect in every way but like all her kind, she was just no good with bugs. Vin made a mental note to never take her camping.

“Yeah,” Chris nodded as he unscrewed the bottle. “You okay with that Professor?”

While Orin Travis wasn’t exactly decrepit, the man was advanced in years and this would require speed. What he intended was dangerous but they had no choice. They had to reach the doorway and hopefully escape this chamber. Chris only hoped this deluge of scorpions wasn’t endless.

“I’ll keep up,” Orin answered, unoffended by the question. In his youth, he was quite the field archaeologist but he had been inside for the last decade. It was part of the reason he sought out Chris Larabee and his friends to take up the role of relic hunters for him.  Still, he was by no means completely out of shape, though he appreciated the sentiment behind Chris’s question.

Tossing the bottle a few feet ahead of him, the glass shattered against the paved floor with a loud crash, sending shards and liquid in all directions. A small island formed around the broken fragments as the creatures steered away from the glass fragments as well as the smell produced by the whisky. Wasting no time, Chris hurled the torch in his hand soon after.

The floor lit up with flames as the whisky ignited, spreading out as far as the liquid had sprayed when the bottle was smashed. As the room lit up with amber light, Chris grabbed Mary’s hand and started running. He ignored her horrified squeals as her boots crunched the creatures underfoot as they rushed through the wall of fire. While it was dangerous to cross the space in such conditions, Chris knew they would be alright as long as they could get through fast.

“JD! Professor!” Chris called out behind him as he and Mary ran along the burning path.  The kid would be smart enough to help the Professor if needed and no doubt Vin would ensure Alex was safe as they made the same journey.

With the flames illuminating every corner of the large chamber,  the door at the rear was well lit now and Chris could see through it well enough to know there were no scorpions beyond the doorway, much to his relief.  Running across the floor, he continued their rapid pace, dragging Mary along even though they were now beyond the range of the whisky-fuelled flames.  He ignored the crunching beneath his boots, even though he knew the sound made would turn even the most sensible woman in the world to utter goo upon hearing it.

“Oh God...” he heard Mary’s complaint and tried not to smirk. It was nice to know there were some things about her that were still inherently female.

They reached the doorway a few seconds later, leaving behind the chamber of horrors behind them or so they thought.  Turning around, Chris saw Vin dragging Alex across the carpet of arachnids in much the same fashion as he had done with Mary. Still clutching their torches, they were soon followed by JD and Orin. Orin didn’t move as fast as Chris would have liked but the old man was still pretty spry and join them in the hallway beyond the chamber a short time later. Behind them, the room continued to burn with the scorpion hordes moving through the passage they had descended, presumably heading towards the safety of the next level.

“Everyone okay?” Chris asked when everyone was in the hallway with him and pausing a moment to catch their breaths.

“Oh, I’m just peachy,” Alex grumbled, brushing her hair furiously to make sure none of the creatures had inadvertently hitched a ride and would send her into hysterics when it finally made its appearance.

“We’re good,” Vin threw her a sidelong glance.

“JD, Professor?” Chris looked to student and teacher in quick succession. After what JD managed to do while in the company of the Shah and his men, the leader of the seven was no longer as concerned about the youngest of them being able to fend for himself. Still, it was habit that made him ask.

“We’re fine,” Orin said dusting himself off and throwing a glance behind him at the sight of the flames and the nest they had just escaped. “It has been some time since I’ve had to go through one of those. Nice to know I still can keep up.”

“OH MY GOD!”

Chris winced and realised he left Mary alone. Spinning around immediately, he realised the woman had gone ahead into the next chamber. If it were not for the fact her father was present, a number of choice words would have escaped him as he stormed after her. After being confronted with scorpions, not to mention the last time she was left alone to her devices, she had almost gotten them all killed, Chris wasn’t about to let her wander off alone.

“DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!” He shouted after her.

Vin shook his head, grateful he and Alex had shared an instant connection upon meeting because Chris’s approach to mating left a lot to be desired.  “Man’s going to give himself an ulcer.” He grumbled before following  Chris up the hallway.

“Welcome to my world,” Orin sniggered softly.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
THE VAULT

He had been nine years old the first time he saw an aeroplane fly.

Chris Larabee’s father, the General, had taken both boys to Fort Myer in Virginia to attend some army business Buck Wilmington no longer remember. Buck had damn loved the man for the invitation because the man didn’t give two licks about the fact Buck was a product of the local bordello. All Marcus Larabee ever saw was a boy who needed a man’s influence in his life and was willing to provide it. His mother who was similarly touched by the gesture had permitted it, sending Buck on his first trip out of state.

They had journeyed to the fort at the same time another visitor was conducting business there. Buck had never heard of Orville and Wilbur Wright until that visit, but following his time in Fort Myer, he would never forget it. Watching the Flyer soaring over the skies was like revelation and young Buck knew from that moment on, he would never want to be anywhere else. The plane, little more than a construct of spruce and fabric, with its twin propellers, was nothing like the Darlin’ Millie but Buck knew he was born to fly.

In the war, being a pilot had allowed him to see the fighting from above and despite the losses in the air to the German Air Force, he had to admit, it was nothing like the carnage on the ground. Buck doubted he would have made it back from Europe otherwise. Flying overhead, he remembered seeing the bodies and praying each time he did, Chris and his friends were not among the dead. During the Oise-Aisne Offensive, seeing the death below him had made him feel ashamed he was safe in the seat of his plane instead of being in mud below, dying.

Right now, as he watched the converging Erran forces closing in around the ruin of Eridu like a ring of steel, Buck supposed he finally knew what it was like to share the battle with his friends at ground level. In retrospect, it was an experience he could do without. Despite Ezra’s expert direction, surprising not just him but Josiah as well, the Erran were overwhelming them with sheer numbers. The red-robed devils were closing in and while Ezra was using every ounce of experience he possessed as a former cavalryman, he could not keep the enemy at bay.

Buck continued to fire his rifle, the rat-tat-tat of gunfire exploding in his ear as he continued to shoot, his belly pressed against the dirt. He saw the barrage clip one man in the shoulder, enough so that he had almost been unseated. He slumped to the side of the saddle and clung on with one hand, to avoid tumbling into the dirt. The rest of the payload from Buck’s gun was nowhere as merciful on the man next to him. Three bullets slammed into the rider’s body in quick succession. Through his sight, Buck saw the man jerk like a puppet for a few seconds before he fell away from the horse like the animal had shed its skin.

If he did not die when he hit the sand, he certainly did when the horses behind him trampled over his body, despite their best efforts to avoid him. Yet the enemy was still coming and Buck found himself reaching for more ammunition, carefully watching the supply and wishing once again, he was in his plane with a couple of bombs he could drop on the bastards.

“They’re getting closer!” Buck shouted to no one in particular, dropping his head down when a bullet whizzed past, impacting on the rock wall behind him. It spat small fragments of stone across the ground upon impact.  “We’re going to have to use our ace in the hole!”

Ezra who had been firing steadily at the approaching targets, lifted his head up from the sight of the gun resting on the rock wall behind which he was taking refuge.  While still wearing the face of the consummate poker player who gave nothing away, Buck knew the man long enough to know Ezra was also seeing their situation deteriorating which each inch of ground being claimed by the enemy. They had planned for this assault but no one could have expected the Erran to come with such numbers.

“We must wait until they are closer!” Ezra declared, putting to end any suggestion of using their ace in the hole. Both he and Chris had come up with the idea jointly and now that it was needed, he did not intend to squander its worth by acting prematurely.  “We will only have one shot at this and even so all we can hope to do is reduce their numbers. We must give Mr Larabee and the others enough time to reach the Tablet.”

“I don’t know if I want them that close!” Nathan hollered from where he was. He had paused to reload and was grateful Josiah was maintaining the protective cordon around them because the Erran were quick to take up the gaps he provided by his brief pause.  As he kept his head down, fumbling for the bullets to reload his gun, he could hear the explosion of artillery and their heat passing over him as they sought out new targets in their predefined trajectory.

“I do not think we have much choice in the matter!” Ezra declared. “Nevertheless, before they arrive, I am certain we can reduce their numbers significantly.”

The gambler faced front again and noted the dwindling Erran numbers, while significant, was nowhere enough. There were still at least thirty of them on close approach.  Raising his binoculars to his face, he peered through them and studied the line of riders.  Unsurprisingly, he saw amongst the cultist, the woman who attempted to poison them on numerous occasions, her companion the large behemoth who nearly choked the life out of him and of course, the Shah himself.  Ezra had ridden in the cavalry long enough to know who was in charge by their positioning in the formation.

The manner in which Shah was being guarded on all sides meant nothing else.

Ezra wondered if he were a better sniper like Vin, would he have made the attempt and decided it was a worthless expenditure of time since he wasn’t certain he could make the shot to put down the leader of the Erran. Instead, he saw the enemy approaching the invisible line he and Chris had drawn around Eridu, as a contingency for the possibility of this situation becoming a reality.  

“Mr Sanchez!” Ezra shouted over the sound of returning gunfire at the former seminary student who was manning the submachine gun with deadly precision. “I think it’s time!”

Josiah didn’t answer immediately, too distracted by the piston-like rhythm of the gun’s discharge. Spent shell casings were scattered around him and up ahead, the wall of artillery swept at least two of the Erran from their saddles while another was unseated when one of those bullets struck horseflesh.  The older man flinched at that, never much liking the animals wounded by the foolishness of human riders.

“Someone take over!” He called out and waited for a second before he saw Nathan crawling across the ground like a snake, trying to keep from being hit. The medic made a run for it in the last few feet, his back bent into a question mark before he slid into place next to Josiah, like he was Satchel Paige himself. 

“All yours brother,” Josiah remarked, tipping his cap at the younger man before making a quick run for a partially crumbled wall at the rear of the temple floor. 

“Thanks,” Nathan remarked, taking charge of the weapon and resuming the deadly fire aimed at reducing the Errans’ numbers. “I feel honoured.”

Josiah ran past Ezra in much the same fashion as Nathan had approached, keeping his head down by crouching low. Bullets were riddling every surface the ruined city and Josiah wondered if God was watching out for them since none of his companions had felt the sting of any projectiles as yet.

“Say when Ezra,” Josiah reminded as he dashed past.

“I will not keep you waiting long,” Ezra responded before he went back to shooting. “Tell me when you’re in position.”

“Yes Lieutenant,” Josiah grinned, perfectly aware Ezra hated being reminded of his military rank. The man still claimed it was some madness that had overtaken him in his youth that prompted him to enlist in the first place.

“If you are going to resort to name calling...” he started to say when another bullet whizzed past his face and he fell backwards.

Josiah uttered a little laugh, indulging in a little gallows humour as he continued onwards, pausing here and there as he weaved past the path of bullets crossing Eridu’s length and breadth.  He practically had to dive over the shortened wall, wondering what on Earth he was thinking by making the attempt, since he was nowhere as spry (or young) as the others, before he landed in a roll.

Scrambling to his feet, he crawled towards the detonator box waiting impatiently for his return, the handle standing impudently at attention.  The box was sheltered by the wall, the brick providing the perfect shield from the bullets, far better than anyone else was being protected at present.  Josiah sat up, kneeling in front it, placing his hands on the handle and shouting out, certain Ezra was listening, waiting to hear he was in position.

“I’m ready!” Josiah called, his normally erudite voice booming loudly.

Ezra who was poised and waiting to hear Josiah’s words stared at the terrain in front of him and knew this was the last chance they had of reducing the odds against them.  They might not win the day, but it would be a pyrrhic victory for the Erran.  The enemy was less than fifty feet away from Eridu and it was the safest point for the detonation, without causing significant instability in the ancient structure.

As the gunfire continued, along with the dull thunder of horses, Ezra gave the order.

“NOW!”

Without even needing to see Josiah pushing down on the handle of the detonator box, the explosion of sound that resulted felt like the earth being split open. As the tremendous roar filled the air, terrifying any animal in the vicinity as the deafening noise was followed by bone shattering rattles,  a wall of earth rose up in the air at the detonation of the dynamite charges. Chris Larabee, ever the pessimist had been certain the Erran would find them, despite their best precautions and Ezra had suggested this little contingency in case they did.  Thus, they planted the explosives around the site almost as soon as they arrived in Eridu.

He saw the horses buckling and like all former cavalrymen, Ezra flinched at seeing it. The animals were caught in the line of blasts, their frightened braying filling the air as others retreated, colliding with the horses behind them. Some of the creatures reared themselves on hind legs, dislodging their riders. The entire line was in disarray, scattered across the desert sand like someone had thrown a rock at an anthill.

“That should give Chris a bit more time,” Buck spoke up as the gunfire paused momentarily while the Erran attempted to regroup.

“Hopefully,” Ezra said as he reloaded his gun and prepared for the next wave.  “He is encountering fewer difficulties than we are.”

******

When Chris finally caught up with Mary in the chamber at the end of the corridor where they had escaped the swarm of scorpions, he was convinced she had succeeded in triggering the mechanism of yet another death trap to be found in the temple.  Her journalistic nose as well as her fearless nature (which could be somewhat attractive), made this an inevitability.  Yet when he stepped into the room and glimpsed what she was seeing through the amber light of her torch, he could appreciate what engendered such a fearful exclamation from her lips.

Slowing down as he was confronted with the same scene as she, Chris came to a stop next to Mary and had to admit, he might have made a similar utterance, albeit with a slightly more colourful language, if he had stumbled upon the scene she was viewing with wide eyes.

Surrounding them on every inch of wall space, save the floor and ceiling, were corpses.

They stood upright, stacked two or three deep in carved slots against the wall, resembling dried husks of cordwood instead of mummified corpses. Pack tightly together, with arms folded over their chests, dressed in a mixture of armour and jewellery over the swaddling used to encase them once the embalming process was done.

The scene reminded Chris of Paris. He had spent time there after the war, shortly before they were to be shipped home and Chris had visited the city’s famous catacombs.  In that stygian underground cemetery, the dead were marked by the skulls they left behind.  What he was seeing now, did not look that dissimilar, except the bodies were all intact and posed as if they were keeping watch over the room for any unwanted trespassers.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, finding it satisfying she could be unnerved like any other woman. “It’s the live ones you gotta worry about.”

Mary tossed him a look. “I admire your ability to make such distinctions Mr Larabee.”

Despite the situation, Chris couldn’t help but admire the fire in her eyes, even when it was projected out of those dove like eyes.  “I think since you’ve almost gotten me killed in a Mesoamerican water trap, you can call me Chris.”

Even though he said it with a straight face, the teasing in his voice was apparent.

Mary crooked a brow in his direction, her frown fighting to remain on her face. “Alright then, Chris,”  she spoke with that imperious tone even though the slight curl at the corner of her lip betray the warmth she was trying not to show him. “What is this place?”

“I’m not sure,” Chris confessed. “It’s obviously a burial vault but I’m not the expert. JD? Professor?”  After four years doing this, he knew something of Sumerian culture and was aware they buried their dead instead of cremating them. Still, in comparison to the two scholars in their company, he was an amateur.  Both men were probably being held back by Vin who would not let them proceed further until Chris gave the signal, deeming it was safe. “Come on down, it’s clear.”

It did not take them long to enter the room to join Chris and Mary who were continuing to study the bodies arrayed. They were mostly men, although there were one or two women and obviously high born, if their ornate burial clothes were any indication.  The positioning of the bodies bothered him though, he couldn’t imagine why they were standing upright like that when Sumerian culture buried their dead flat.

The familiar tickle in the back of his mind, the one that warned of caution, made itself heard as the others entered the room.

“Of course,” Alexandra Styles exclaimed as she entered with Vin and threw up her hands in exasperation more than fear. Being a fourth-year medical student, dead bodies weren’t that much of a surprise to her but the macabre nature of the place was in keeping with the rest of this situation, she decided.  She was really tired of being confronted with one awful thing after another. “What’s next? Flesh-eating bugs?”

Vin decided this was not the time to mention the tiger beetles they’d encountered at a dig in Egypt.

“Don’t worry Darlin’,” he tossed her a wink. “I’ll protect you.”

“Oh, you’re lucky you’re pretty.” She flashed him a radiant smile of warmth, wondering how this insanity was tolerable to her, just because she was with him.

“Oh,” Orin Travis stated with interest as he stepped into the chamber and surveyed the place and its dead occupants. “This is a vault. Judging by the adornments, I would say these were the city’s nobles and leaders.  The everyday Sumerian buried their dead in the home.” Glancing at JD, the Professor spoke to the young man as if he were teaching a class. “Can you tell us more Mr Dunne?”

JD smiled affectionately at the Professor who continued to be a teacher even now and would forever have his undying loyalty as a friend. Orin Travis had changed his life when he introduced JD to Chris Larabee and the men he now considered family.  In becoming part of the seven, Orin had ensured JD would never be alone again

“Yes Sir,” he flashed the Professor a smile, accepting the challenge. “All Sumerian homes had a vault or tombs, whatever you want to call it. They buried all their dead there, even left spaces for where wives and husbands would eventually end up. They even kept the household pets there.”

“Very good,” Orin said proudly, glad to see the young man’s academic prowess was still as sharp as ever. Taking a step closer to one wall of corpses, he studied their shrouds and the objects they were interred with. “Most of these men are armed, they must be temple or royal guards.”

Both Chris and Vin noticed that first.

Even by modern standards, they looked quite formidable. Each guard wore a helmet of bronze and iron, their body armour was a circular breastplate held in place with straps around the arms. Sheathed in scabbards at the hip were Mesopotamian swords or khopeshes and short daggers. Also, within reach were spears and maces. Even under four millennia of dust, Chris thought they looked quite threatening.

“Why would they be buried here?” Mary had to ask. “I thought you said this was for the nobility?”

“There may be a further chamber,” Chris replied. “One where there’s a king or something.”

“Well there’s the door,” Orin pointed to the exit at the far end of the room, just like the one with the scorpions. “Perhaps the vault for the nobility is through there. If so, it would make sense the guards being placed here, to keep watch.”

“You know what’s odd though,” JD commented. “Why are they standing up like that?”

“Yeah I was going to mention it,” Vin spoke up, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Alex was not straying too far.  “Ain’t they supposed to be lying down or something?”   Granted Vin was no expert on these things, his sole contribution here was not to let anyone get killed in whatever danger they triggered by attempting to retrieve the Tablet.

Alex drifted away from the talk, inching closer to one of the corpses. Despite her earlier complaint, she was a little fascinated once her shock had worn away. Not that she was about to let Vin on this fact. She knew she was almost certainly in love with him. The connection between them felt so strong and natural, it was uncanny. However, as much as she might care for him, she did not intend to be a regular companion on his adventures if they were all like this.

Taking a step forward with her torch in hand, Alex reminded herself most strenuously she was not to touch anything after what Mary did in that mound dwelling in New Mexico. Leaning in closer, she studied the corpse of a male, who was almost six feet tall, despite his desiccated state. On top of the swaddling around his body, he was buried with his bronze aged armour, a helmet on his head and his khopesh hanging at his hip. In life, she had no doubt he would look quite frightening.

Alex had to admire the sophistication of the embalming process because even though this man had died four thousand years ago, she could see his distinct features exposed through the withering material of his shroud. He had a strong straight nose, refined features and deep-set eyes. In his day, he would have been quite the...

His eyelids flew open silencing any further thought in her mind.

At first, Alex thought it was a flicker of the flame from her torch. Blinking, she wanted to clear her eyes to ensure she wasn’t imagining things. When one was surrounded by corpses, it wasn’t an unheard of possibility. Except he blinked too. As old skin flexed and cracked, small particles of dust broke free around his face, revealing the blackness of empty eye sockets. 

Still trapped in disbelief by her scientific mind, Alex stared in horrified fascination until the thing tilted its head in her direction and pulled its thin lips back, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth that resembled stained wood instead of enamel. It was at this point, Alex’s survival instincts kicked in and she retreated, just as it started moving.

Her scream jarred everyone.

Vin swung around the instant he heard that cry and saw Alex recoiling just as corpses against the walls started to come alive around them. One by one, they were pulling themselves free from their placements in the wall, creating clouds of dust as they surrounded the new arrivals with surprising speed. Unsheathing their blades or clutching the spears and maces left for them, they moved forward in a ring of steel. While Vin would react faster than Alex, for the first second he could only gape at what was happening in front of him before his mind discarded his astonishment, to deal with the threat.

“Get behind me!” Vin barked and that was one order she was not about to disobey.

Mary uttered a cry of terror when an arm lashed out of the darkness and grabbed her arm. Reacting reflexively, she kicked out and planted a foot in the corpse’s sternum. The force of the kick drove the breastplate and her foot through the creature’s chest until she was almost ankle deep in ancient flesh and organs.  Despite its injury, the dead Sumerian was not about to be impeded by its prey and regained his grip on her, holding Mary in place as he sought to run her through with the blade in his hand.

“MARY!” Orin shouted in horror as he saw his daughter in the grip of a zombie.

Understandably, it took a few seconds for everyone to react as they should. Scorpions were one thing but the dead rising up from the grave was straining belief. Unfortunately, there was no time to debate the matter since it appeared they were about to be overwhelmed by the creatures who were about to slaughter them in this chamber.

Orin’s cry had mobilised Chris and he reacted without hesitation, drawing his gun and jamming the weapon against the creature’s skull before pulling the trigger.  The discharging bullet made the thing’s head explode, sending pieces of skull and dry brain matter in all direction as it tumbled to the tiled floor. As it collapsed, its arm detached from the rest of its body, leaving its hand to maintain the vice-like grip around Mary’s forearm.

“Get it off me!” She squealed in uncharacteristic hysterics.

“How in the hell is this possible?” JD managed to ask as he saw one of the creatures advancing towards him and wasted no time firing at it. There were so many of them now, he wondered if they had enough ammunition to deal with them all.  Orin was trying to make his way to Mary when JD saw the almost skeletal figure closing in on his mentor.

“Professor, look out!” JD leapt into action, placing himself in front of the man before squeezing the trigger repeatedly. As twp bullets slammed into the creature’s chest one after the other, JD saw it stagger backwards, jerking about spasmodically in reaction. The young scholar expected the corpse tumble to the ground so he could deal with the others when it did the exact opposite.

The corpse shook off the effect and straightened up. It lifted its head at the young man and JD swore it was almost smiling before it started moving again.

“Aw Jeez! Chris!” JD shouted at the gunslinger. “I think we have a big problem!”

As Chris saw them closing in, their weapons gleaming, he thought JD had sorely underestimated the situation.

They had several big problems.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO:
NIGHTMARE REALM

Since the attack at the museum, the woman had been monitoring the situation.

When the Heart of Enki was discovered and brought to the United States, she expected events to unfold in more or less the fashion they had. The Shah’s desire to fulfil his family’s destiny would ensure the Erran left bloodshed in their wake and though she considered intervening, she knew things had to play out until the final curtain on this affair was raised, and she could act. 

What she had not counted on was the involvement of Chris Larabee and his relic hunters.

She was peripherally aware of the Seven during her surveillance of  Travis’s activities. The Professor in his day had been quite the relic hunter himself,  and it was only natural he would employ similar men to do the same now that he was getting on in years. She respected him for that but still kept her eye on him nonetheless. When William Styles was killed, she had been in Europe, attending to matters almost as equally dire.

While the Shah was up to his intrigues to uncreate the world through the Tablet of Destiny, what was happening in Germany was proof entropy needed no ancient relic to take place.

Still, her failure to save William stung. She had never met him but was aware of his investigations once she began to make her own. He understood better than all of them, the danger the Erran posed and while she did not hold his beliefs in the supernatural, she understood what drove him. After he was killed, she knew it was time to make contact with Orin Travis at the party unveiling the Heart, but the intervention of  Larabee and his men forced her withdrawal.

“They’re going to be swamped,” her companion said as he lowered the binoculars and turned to her. They were both staring at the scene from one of the hills surrounding Eridu, watching the rapidly diminishing number of Erran closing on Larabee’s men, who were defending the ruined city.

“We hold firm,” she spoke coolly. “If I know that bastard, he won’t kill them. He’ll need to use them as hostages to get his hands on the Tablet when Larabee appears.”

“You think Larabee will find it?” He said to her, somewhat dubious at the thing even existing let alone being used for a trade.

“Without a doubt,” she replied. “We’ll wait for all the players to take the stage, then we’ll act.”

******

As the buffer of bullets between them narrowed and the bodies scattered across the desert continued to grow, Ezra Standish knew with utter certainty, they could not prevail. Their ammunition was fast dwindling and when the Erran did reach the city, they would be overwhelmed by numbers. Yet he refused to surrender even though it was unlikely they would be killed. The Erran still needed the Tablet and if anyone could navigate the traps set in place around it, it was Chris Larabee.

Ezra also knew Chris would smash the Tablet into a thousand pieces if he for one second suspected any of his men had been killed by the Erran. The man could be viciously vindictive and Ezra had more faith in that than all of Midas’s dreams of gold. Glancing at Nathan from his vantage point, he could see his best friend reloading his rifle and unleashing another barrage of gunfire in the thickest part of the Erran riders.

No matter how good he was in a fight, Ezra knew Nathan was wincing with the discharge of every bullet. At the heart of him, Nathan was a healer who did not enjoy killing. The bodies being swept up by the desert wind, half submerged in the sand after the line of dynamite had detonated would prey upon him heavily. Ezra wished he could share the healer’s compassion because when he saw the Erran break up at their approach, he knew instantly the strategy they were employing.  A contingent of them would keep the four men busy, perfectly aware they had the numbers to provide a distraction, while the others would circle the base of the city and find an alternate path to ambush them.

“Ezra!” Buck shouted, voicing the thought as it crossed Ezra’s mind. “They’re splitting up, I’ll bet you anything they’re going to try and sneak up on us from behind.”

“I will take that bet, Mr Wilmington,” Ezra declared, continuing to shoot. “You and Mr Jackson ought to ensure they do not tip the odds too much in their favour. Josiah and I will remain here and maintain fire!”

“You heard him, Nathan! Let’s get moving!” Buck hollered to the healer. Nathan

“All right, all right,” Nathan grumbled, raising his head from where he was positioned to shoot. “Let’s go pick up the trash before it piles up on our doorstep.” The healer pushed himself off the gravelly ground and kept his head low even as bullets whizzed over him, striking the stone walls and every other surface in their immediate vicinity.

“Keep your heads down!” Ezra shouted as he watched the two men retreat to the rear, using the cover of crumbling walls, still standing doorways and statues that lost their shape long ago. The gambler spared no more than a second ensuring they got to the other side of the ruins safely, before facing front again.

“I fear it remains to you and I Josiah, to repel this horde!” He said to the mechanic and demolition expert who was still laying down a line of continuous fire to the enemy, but even Ezra could see the ammunition at Josiah’s side was starting to get low.

“I don’t know how much longer we can be repelling any horde!” Josiah returned, watching another Erran cultist tumble into the dirt.

There were three rows of riders and as they approached, Ezra noticed the Shah, the behemoth JD had revealed was called Krestos and the woman, whom he had faced off at the Professor’s home was approaching from the rear, ensuring the others went first like cannon fodder. Clearly, they intended to reach the city,  even if it meant sacrificing their own to see it done. Ezra was hardly surprised, it was always the way of fanatics to convince the gullible to die for a meaningless cause as if it were a call to glory.

Ezra took careful aim as he placed the Shah within the crosshairs of his rifle, thinking if he could put down the man, they might end this conflict prematurely. However, the chaos of riders surrounding the Shah ensured Ezra couldn’t get a clean shot and the gambler suspected, that was the intention of the formation, to begin with. Perhaps if Vin were here, the sharpshooter might have been able to make the shot but Ezra wasn’t the sniper Vin was. He was a crack shot with small arms and a demon with a blade, and as impressive as he was with the rifle, he was nowhere in Vin’s league.

“Here they come!” Josiah shouted, giving Ezra the warning they were out of time. The gap between the enemy and the foundations of Eridu had closed and now the barbarians were at the gate.  The slope leading up the mountains was gradual enough to allow the horses to progress all the way to the top of the city ruins.  Even as Ezra discarded the rifle and reached for the Ceska machine gun he had armed for this very purpose, he could feel the thunder of hooves beneath him.

Josiah continued firing a little more but the would be preacher gave up the idea as well when he realised their attempt to avoid being overrun was futile. Like Ezra, he grabbed the Tommy gun Vin had left him and slipped a number of round magazine cartridges into his jacket.  His eyes followed Ezra running across the terrain, seeking out a more defensible position and did the same.

“See you on the other side brother!” He shouted at Ezra who had taken refuge behind the partial rock wall Buck had used earlier. Josiah headed for one of the deep doorways leading into the underground levels of the city.

“Try and show a little optimism, will you Mr Sanchez!” Ezra hollered back. “I do not intend dying today!”

“We’ve got  to go sometime!” Josiah grinned.

The first of the horses crested the top of the slope with Josiah unleashing a hail of bullets at the ground directly in front of them. The loud roar of sound, not to mention the dirt being sent into the air like projectiles startled the animals who promptly reared up on their hind legs in fright. At least four men were unseated or very near close to it since the abrupt halt of the animals was not merely limited to the ones frightened by the gunfire.

Once the Erran were unseated, the fight no longer became one where they could hold firm and defend their position. It was a brawl now, a brawl with guns and fists. Ezra who hated menial labour, darted from his refuge, shooting down the Erran on the ground just as the still seated riders returned fire. He knew the odds were against them but if they could keep moving, if they could provide a running target instead of a stationary one, then they might give Chris Larabee the time their leader needed to recover the Tablet and have something to bargain with.

He hoped.

****

They were fighting corpses.

Chris Larabee was trying to wrap his mind around the fact they were fighting people who were dead. Not only dead but had died two thousand years before the birth of Christ.  Furthermore, unlike the creature played by Boris Karloff in that movie Vin made him sit through, these mummified corpses were neither slow or lumbering, they moved with speed, displaying the agility and skill of any living assailant.

After firing his gun at the creatures closing in on them and discovering the things were hard to kill, Chris decided he needed another weapon Bullets, being small projectiles had little effect on desiccated organs. Chris sighted one of their blades lying across the floor and immediately dove for it. Rolling across the dust-covered tiles, he picked up one of the khopeshes and raised the weapon just in time to ward off an axe.

Shoving back hard, he stood upright, knowing his disbelief had better take a back seat because this was happening and if he didn’t think on his feet, he was going to get run through or worse. While the mummified guard staggered backward, another of them came at him, forcing Chris to take a swipe at it. The swing was wide but practised, with Chris aiming high.  Since battling these monsters, Chris had come to the realisation the best way of ending them was either by decapitation or dismemberment. Only direct shots to the head would put them down otherwise.

With little or no hesitation, the blade sliced through grey, flaking skin that reminded him of burnt paper, just as the creature tried to stab him with a particularly nasty looking spear. It was screeching at him and Chris thought they sounded like the screams of magpies in the morning. The cut severed its head from its body, causing the skull to flip in mid-air before landing on the ground hard.  The skull shattered like someone had dropped a bowl of flour from a great height.

“How is this possible? They’re dead!”  Alex demanded, her mind still unable to accept what she was seeing, even while she uttered a cry of fright when one of the things came at them. Flattened against the only free piece of wall, she saw Vin leaping backwards, keeping his guts from spilling across the floor when he narrowly avoided the deadly swipe of a blade. 

“Uh Darlin’,” Vin shouted back at her, some exasperation creeping into his voice. “Maybe you could just not stand there and try to get to the door?”

At that warning, Alex saw one of the mummified guards lunging at her and she ducked, causing it to slam against the wall behind her. Dropping to her hands and knees, Alex began crawling across the floor, just as Vin spun around and obliterated its skull with a well-placed shot. Terrified, she crawled towards the door and shouted back at him.

“Vin Tanner, you may be a great kisser, but I REALLY HATE YOUR JOB!”

“You think I’m a great kisser?” Vin asked just as he jammed his gun into the face of another creature and pulled the trigger.

“VIN!” Chris who was close enough to hear barked angrily. “Focus!”

“Sorry,” Vin apologised as the creature’s head disintegrated, putting an end to its attack.

Alex uttered a horrified squeal when bits and pieces of mummy rained down on her, covering her skin and hair with scraps of ancient flesh and body parts.  As she frantically brushed herself off, she became aware of Vin helping her to her feet, just as another mummy took advantage of her panic and tried to bring an axe down on her.

 “Alex, head for the door!” He ordered, shoving her in that direction while he dealt with this latest attacker. Alex didn’t argue and glanced over her shoulder at him before doing as he ordered.

Meanwhile, Mary had picked up a khopesh herself and found it was not all that different to a foil in fencing, although the blade was heavier and did not require as much finesse to use.  Parrying when one of the living corpses came at her, she fended off the blow before dropping gracefully to her knees and slashing the thing in mid-thorax.

The cleaved corpse fell against the tiles in two large pieces and it was with revulsion, she saw what had not disintegrated with the hard landing, was still capable of movement. The legs attached to the thorax was staggering about like a Saturday night drunk, while the arms attached to the upper torso was still waving the blade about, trying to get to her.

Chris glanced at Mary finishing off the creature she was fighting and felt a surge of relief at her ability to defend herself.  As the thought crossed his mind, he fired a shot at another mummy closing in on him, penetrating its bronzed helmet. Chris watched in horrified fascination as he saw its skull starting to disintegrate inside the ancient piece of headwear. There was little time for respite because even as he saw its face crumble away, something else was coming at him, something armed with a mace.

He ducked just as it swung, avoiding the blow which only succeeded in striking the mummy closing in on him from a different direction.  The mace ripped apart the second creature’s shoulder and detached its arm from the body. The limb landed on the ground and started crawling towards Chris.  Chris threw a kick as if he were a kicker for the NFL, sending the arm flying into the air, far away from him.

Like his older comrades, JD was similarly astonished by what he was seeing but was more focused on removing his mentor from the chamber. Ducking as a corpse swung his blade at him, the young man kicked out his foot and connected with the creature’s ankle, bringing it down with surprising speed. Once they made eye contact, he jammed a gun into its mouth and pulled the trigger, ignoring the chill that ran through him as it stared at him with those eyeless sockets. As its head exploded, JD stepped back quickly, since the thought of being suffocated by mummy dust was quite revolting.

Turning his attention to Orin, he saw the Professor had little difficulty defending himself. LIke Chris, Orin Travis was a former cavalryman and knew how to handle a blade. The older man was searching the room for his daughter and was both relieved and impressed when he saw her throw a flying kick at one of the creatures and forced it back against the wall from which it had emerged. He had no idea where she learned to fight like this but Orin was grateful she broke the mould of society’s outdated ideas on how a woman ought to behave and learned.

At least now he knew when she was out chasing her stories she was capable of protecting herself.

Alex, on the other hand, was another matter entirely. She was still trying to navigate the battle taking place around her, with little experience in using her fists or participating in anything as brutal as combat. In that, she was definitely William’s daughter, a healer. In their youth, it was William who always tried to come up with a different way of attacking a problem instead of using physical violence, unlike hot-headed Hank who loved a scrap.

“Alexandra!” Orin beckoned her towards him as she tried to cross the floor to reach the exit as Vin ordered. “Come to me!”

Wide-eyed, she nodded and ran across the tiles, avoiding the dismembered limbs still crawling about the place, trying to understand how this could be. She was a doctor and to her, a dead body was a dead body, it shouldn’t be alive or have its hacked limbs crawling about the place like they were organisms of their own. She knew her scientific mind was attempting to analyse supernatural waters, and failing to do so. Still, there was no doubting the clear and present danger they were facing.

Sighing with relief when she reached her father’s oldest friend, she was grateful to feel Orin taking her hand and towing her to the door. She glanced over her shoulder at Vin and saw him kicking away another corpse, using one hand to fire, while the other fended off another coming at him with a blade. Wanting to call out to him, the opportunity was lost when she felt herself being pulled through the doorway and prayed despite her words to him, Vin was able to take care of himself.

“Chris!” Mary shouted as she saw one of the creatures sneaking up on him from behind while he was wrestling with another.

Chris looked over his shoulder just in time to see Mary running to his rescue as she had done at the museum. She ducked just as the thing swung at her, skidding to the floor, and bringing down the creature with an efficiently delivered leg sweep. As it crashed against the tiles, she used her blade and promptly decapitated the corpse. Chris spared a brief second in observation before a stray thought crossed his mind. 

That was pretty hot.

Meanwhile more and more of the creatures were emerging from the wall and Chris had to wonder just how many of the things there were, as he fired point blank at another advancing corpse. It seemed with the number they been killing so far, there should be less, not more. Yet the things continued to advance as if the walls were porous and behind them, was an endless supply of corpses dedicated to wearing down trespassers. It was at this point, Chris realised it was futile to fight them all, and though it stung for an ex-soldier to admit it, Chris knew it was time to retreat.

“We’re getting out of here!” He shouted. “Vin, we are leaving!”

“You ain't’ getting no arguments from me!” The sharpshooter returned and threw a fist into the face of one of the approaching assailants. His stomach hollowed when his hand went through bone and teeth and was nearly stuck in the thing's mouth. Pulling back his fist in disgust, he searched the floor and was relieved to see Alex being dragged out of the room by Orin Travis while JD covered their backs.

“CHRIS!” Mary Travis uttered a fearful scream as a trio of dead bodies lunged at her. She dropped to the floor, trying to avoid them but one of the creatures managed to catch a handful of golden hair and yank back sharply. She uttered a cry of pain at the strands being torn savagely, even as her knees landed on the hard floor. Mary winced in pain but forced herself to crawl out from beneath them.  Suddenly, she heard the deafening sound of gunfire as a hail of bullets whizzed overhead.

Mary was covered with bits of mummy dust and found herself reverting to type when she squealed in horror, only to feel a hand grip her shoulder and yank her to her feet. She was about to fight when she found herself against Chris, who was looking at her with concern. For a moment, the intensity of his emotions struck her and she felt the air rush out of the room as she stared into those icy coloured eyes and became lost in them. The man was such an enigma, a contradiction in every way and just as tantalising a mystery to her as the Tablet itself.

“Are you okay?” He asked quickly, unable to deny the cold fear he felt at hearing her cry out like that. Despite their continuous bickering and arguments, the truth was, she had gotten under his skin the same way Alexandra Styles had entered Vin Tanner’s heart. However, while Vin was willing to show the lady he cared, Chris was nowhere ready to take the same step. Hell, he was still wearing his wedding ring. Nevertheless, hearing her vulnerability frightened him. It was to his surprise he suddenly realised, how much he valued her ability to take care of herself.

Though he’d have to be raked over coals before he admitted it to her or to anyone else for that matter.

“Yeah,” she nodded as they both started out of the place, quickly outpacing the creatures Vin was keeping at bay with his guns.

They ran out of the room, fighting their way through the corpses, wondering how far they’d have to run to outdistanced these things to escape.  Chris saw that JD, Alex and Orin had already left the chamber and hoped they did not go too far ahead. After fighting mummy guards and swarms of scorpions, he did not want to know what other supernatural creatures, this quest for the Tablet was likely to throw at them.

However, what confronted him when he, Mary and Vin crossed the threshold, halted them in their tracks immediately.

“What the hell?” Chris exclaimed, stunned.

Alex, Orin and JD turned to him, wearing similar expressions of astonishment and bafflement on their faces. It appeared they were just as flabbergasted by what they were seeing

“How can this be?” Mary mused, her blue-grey eyes sweeping across the place.

“We just came through the doorway and then we were here,” Alex explained, her expression showing she was almost at the limits of how much improbable information she could process. 

Here was a platform in the middle of a still ocean. Above them, there was a blue sky, devoid of birds, clouds or for that matter wind. The platform they were standing on was a square floating dock, with no signs of land in any direction.

“But we were inside,” Mary stuttered. “We were in the middle of a desert!” The journalist took a step backwards as if retracing her steps would return them to where they had been. This was too much for her, even with mummified corpses coming to life and swarms of scorpions.

Suddenly, JD spoke up. “I don’t think we’ve gone anywhere.”

“What do you mean?” Chris stared at him.   

“I don’t think we've gone anywhere,” JD repeated himself.  “I think we’re still in the city.”

“JD, this doesn’t look much like a city,” Vin pointed out, aware he was stating the obvious but he was just as flummoxed as the others and wanted an explanation fast.

“Don’t you see, it’s the translation from the Akkadian texts,” JD explained, understanding, at last, the context and how it related to their present situation. “I get it.”

“I see what you mean,” Orin nodded. “Only the worthy, those who have been touched by Enki, close in heart to his spirit may breach the mid realms between creation and entropy.  And he who walks through this nightmare realm, with pearls of wisdom granted to the first man, may escape the stark horror of Tiamat’s mad children to claim the Tablet of Destiny.”

“The nightmare realm....” Chris realised. “You mean everything we’ve been seeing is an illusion. That we’ve been just seeing things and can pass through it if we believe that’s all it is?” 

It sounded too preposterous to be true and yet he had a feeling it was exactly as JD claimed.

“Well there’s just one way to find out,” JD said staring at the horizon and without another word, stepped off the dock.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
TABLET

JD Dunne knew he had nothing to prove.

His place as one of the seven had been cemented within weeks of joining the group. Even though the men with whom he worked with could never explain it, there was something about his arrival among their ranks that completed the circle of their brotherhood.  Despite their usual reluctance to accept outsiders, they had welcomed him with open arms and JD had never looked back. Even now, the circumstances that brought him to Chris Larabee and his team, no longer angered him as it had when he realized what he’d gained. 

In just six months with the team, he’d earned enough to pay for his college tuition for the whole year because even though he was its youngest member,  Chris Larabee paid him like an equal.  It was to his astonishment, that the others did not offer any objection to that state of affairs. In fact, they’d gone out of their way to teach him what they knew.

He could sort of fly a plane thanks to Buck and what Vin had taught him about fighting hand to hand, made certain if Peter Nichols ever crossed his path again, the snotty bastard would walk away with more than just a bloody nose this time.  Ezra taught him how to read people and Chris taught him there was always a way out of a situation. Josiah didn’t teach but he listened and Nathan had given him driving lessons.

Now, he would prove to them why he deserved to be on the team. Stepping off the dock, ignoring the cries of everyone behind him, JD closed his eyes and decided whatever happened, would happen. However, in the last few minutes, revelation had come to him on how exactly it was they were seeing the things they had, since entering Eridu’s bowels.  While he might have accepted the swarm of scorpions as possible, the sudden animation of mummified corpses and the fact they were standing in the middle of an ocean, when two seconds ago they were in an underground passage, made him question everything they had seen so far.

Realizing he could be swallowed up by the depths, his foot landed not on water but against hard stone.  When he opened his eyes, he found himself not immersed in water, although the illusion of it swirled around his ankles like a fine mist. As he took another step forward, the image of the sea around him continued to shudder and beneath it, he could see the hard rock tiles that paved most of the ancient city’s floor. In fact, the more he walked, the thinner the veneer of the illusion became until the horizon itself became translucent and the projection began to waver.

“See Chris!!” JD said looking over his shoulder at his comrades and their companions. “None of what we’ve been seeing is real! It never was. It was just a trick!”

“A trick?” Vin questioned immediately because he knew what he had been fighting in the chamber before felt real enough. Those corpses had come alive!  He remembered the musty smell of their desiccated limbs, the way flakes of dry skin drifted into the air as he fought them, the sound their blades made upon striking steel and the lifeless vacant holes where their eyes should have been. It was beyond his ability to comprehend all that could have been an illusion. “How can that be. I mean, we fought them. Hell, I barely missed getting run through.”

“And if you had, you would have thought you were dying,” JD replied, pausing in his steps long enough to explain further. “Whatever made us see those things, it tricked us into believing whatever happened to us would feel real, including dying.”

“You mean like a self-induced coma?” Alex asked, trying to wrap her mind around the idea of the mind’s power and supposed it might be possible but it usually required help, like some form of narcotic.  “Wait a minute...” she turned quickly to Vin and the others, realizing she might have stumbled onto something important. “Do you remember that strange smell just before we saw the scorpions?”

Chris and Vin exchanged quick glances and Vin nodded because his senses had been sharpened thanks to his partial Navajo upbringing. When they first descended the lower levels of the fortress, he detected an odd smell which he attributed to whatever was decaying inside of Eridu.

“Yeah, I remember, kind of sickly sweet.”

With all the incense and herbs the Sumerians must have used in their rituals, Chris had not questioned it. However, now that Alex brought it up, he knew the exact moment when the smell had impressed itself upon his senses, it was a few minutes before they first encountered that swarm of scorpions.  What if it placed them in some kind of hallucination? 

“Like a narcotic?” Chris stared at the woman.

“Yes!” Alex nodded. “Exactly like that. Something that made us susceptible to some kind of mass hysteria. “Possibly some kind of ergot derivative.”

“That would explain this,” Orin said to Chris who was now watching JD closely.

Even now, Chris could see the kid continuing to walk on water...no, not water. Now Alex planted the suggestion that this could all be in his head, he was observing with greater scrutiny, the young man’s steps across the ocean he should be plunging into, not walking on like Jesus Christ.  As he made ripples across the water, Chris could see the projection diminishing, as if there was something beneath it all, like a different layer to reality.

“In that case,” Chris said finally and stepped to the edge of the platform on which they were taking refuge. Even as he did, a surge of admiration filled his heart for the young scholar, who was with every passing day, proving what a valuable asset he was to the team. Chris suspected JD might still think he didn’t deserve it.

“Chris!” Mary cried out as she saw him preparing to step off the platform, her secret affection for him choosing that moment to surface, in spite of herself.

Her outburst made him turn.  For a split second, he saw the fear in her eyes for him and more than that, a softer emotion she hadn’t intended to reveal. Despite all his reservations about moving on with his life and letting go of Sarah, what was reflected in her blue-grey eyes at that moment affected him more than he believed possible.  Chris felt a surge of excitement that was more than just the anticipation of reaching the Tablet but of what might happen between them after.

“I’ll be fine Mary,” he winked and stepped off the edge.

With his mind more or less deciding Alex was correct in her theory and JD proving it, Chris did not immediately sink to the bottom of this false sea when his foot touched the water.  Instead, the ripple caused by the contact revealed the existence of something beneath the water, something that took him a second to identify.

It was a tile.

The square pave bore the faint design of an eight-pointed star, with each point coloured in faded red which Chris knew to be a popular design in ancient Mesopotamian architecture. Seeing the other swirling patterns in the stone, told Chris he was standing on marble. As he continued to walk, more and more of the tiles began to appear underfoot and when he looked up, he could see this fake expanse diminishing to reveal what lay beneath.

“Looks like the kid’s right,” Vin Tanner suddenly spoke and Chris glanced over his shoulder to see the familiar sight of the young man following him, watching his back. For a second, Chris was struck by the memory of that ten-year-old boy, wearing a uniform too big for him because they simply hadn’t come that small, his face covered in dirt and long hair barely visible from the helmet that covered his face.  Vin had followed him back then too, keeping close because that was what Chris ordered him to do. Now it was because Vin wouldn’t let him face any danger alone.

“He almost always is,” Chris grinned.

As three of the seven continued to walk, the illusion around them began to swirl and shudder, unable to maintain its hold of them under the assault of their disbelief. As it began to disappear, what was revealed was not the dusty, ancient rooms of cracked stone and too many cobwebs, but something grand and beautiful.

The room they entered appeared as pristine as the day it was built. Four majestic columns, evenly spaced, faced each corner. They were almost two feet wide and carved into the stone, were cuneiform inscriptions from four thousand years in the past. The walls were covered in blue tiles, with the symbol of the lamassus, the most prolific Sumerian protective deity with its body of a lion, human head and bird wings, set in white stone. At the front of the chamber, flanking a set of steps that led to a raised floor, were two tall statues almost twenty-five feet high, holding up the ceiling of the chamber.

“Oh my God,” Mary gasped as the illusion more or less collapsed now it was no longer supported by the people present to believe in it.

“I think this is Enki,” JD announced to the others as he stood in front of the statue of the figure carrying the scroll.

“I think you are right, Mr Dunne,” the Professor agreed. “And this is Marduk, his son.”

“Makes sense,” Chris remarked as he walked past them towards the steps. “If the lore around the Tablet is correct, Marduk was the one who helped Enki defeat Tiamat back in the day.”  

Chris had paused at the foot of the staircase, examining the walls flanking it with deep scrutiny to ensure there was no possibility of any last deathtrap waiting to be sprung.  Fortunately, the tiled mosaic walls of lapis lazuli, a blue mineral favoured in the ancient world, showed no signs of any dangerous mechanism. Once he was satisfied with its safety, Chris turned his attention to the tiled steps giving it a similar examination, searching for evidence of pressure plates that might be triggered if stepped on.  Despite seeing nothing, he still remained cautious.

“Let me go first,” Chris ordered and started up the stairs, mostly because if he was wrong, he would suffer the consequences alone.

Chris made his way up the steps cautiously, conscious of everything around him with each step he took, until finally reaching the top. In the last four years, Chris had become accustomed to the reality that it was usually the final seconds before claiming their prize which was often the most lethal. Of course, none of the objects he and the rest of the seven had claimed approached the enormity of what the Tablet represented, but he refused to take any chances. Not when it was  Mary, Alex, and the Professor’s life would be at risk if he underestimated the danger in any way.

Once he reached the top, he was momentarily mesmerized by the flicker of the flames in each cauldron, watching its dance across the wall and giving life to the mother of pearl and lapis lazuli tiles depicting the Enûma Eliš, the Babylonian tablets depicting the creation of the world. Even if he wasn’t an archaeologist himself, Chris wished he had time to study the walls in greater detail. However, he was painfully aware of how little time they had to resolve this situation and turned his attention back to the bronzed doors.

LIke the mosaics adorning the walls, the twin doors were held close by a lock whose configuration Chris recognized immediately. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw JD approaching cautiously with the others now that he had made it to doors with his skin intact.  Both JD and the Professor were studying the place in wide-eyed fascination, mostly because this was their field of expertise and Tablet or not, this room was one a hell of a find.
As always, Chris noted Vin was the last to reach the doors. Being a sharpshooter, it was his habit to ensure he could keep an eye on his comrades, to provide them a way out in times of trouble.  While there was no sweet spot for him to maintain his vigilance at this moment, staying in the back ensured he could help them if anything went wrong. Chris knew it was Alex and Mary Vin was most concerned about, his feelings for Alex notwithstanding. The two women had the least experience in relic hunting and were unaccustomed to the dangers usually encountered on such expeditions.

“JD,” Chris said not looking at the young scholar. “Give me the Heart.”

JD was about to ask why when a quick glance at the lock holding the twin bronzed doors provided explanation enough. Without further argument, he immediately retrieved the heart, tucked away with the Pillars, inside his satchel. While the artifacts had seemingly served their purpose by giving up the location of the Tablet, Chris had been convinced they were not done with the Heart yet and now it appeared he was right. 

The lock holding the door close was grooved with a slot that was a perfect fit for the Heart. Fishing out the relic that had been the start of this entire adventure from the leather satchel he carried everywhere, he handed the Heart to Chris.

“It’s a good thing we brought it,” JD declared.

“It’s been used to open everything else so far,” Orin agreed. “It doesn’t surprise me it’s needed here too.”

“Okay,” Chris said preparing to put the Heart into place, “everyone, hold back. Considering all the surprises so far, I don’t want us to get caught unawares now that we’re getting close to this thing.”

The unanimous agreement that this was good advice made everyone retreat a step or two backward, all except for Vin who had no intention of abandoning Chris under any circumstances. The leader of the seven looked over his shoulder and saw the sharpshooter’s challenge to order him back if he dared and decided against it. Facing the lock again, Chris didn’t realize he was holding his breath when he placed the Heart in its groove and turned it. 

The soft cracking of fire was suddenly eclipsed by unseen tumblers locking into place, creating the clang of metal reverberating throughout the chamber. Throughout the room, they could hear the mechanism groaning into movement, shaking off centuries of inactivity to carry out its only purpose. In front of them, the doors jolted into motion, shaking lost some dust from their edges and forcing everyone to take another instinctive step back. Then with a low squeak, they swung open inwardly.

The smaller chamber it revealed was nowhere as large as the one they were in. If anything it was no bigger than a modestly sized bedroom. However, there was no doubting its importance. Every inch of wall was plated in gold. Chris thought absurdly if Ezra was here, they never would get him out with his sanity intact. The gold was engraved with ancient cuneiform and images of Enki and Marduk’s epic battle to defeat Tiamat. Like the walls outside, Chris could imagine JD and the Professor already studying them with avid interest. Fortunately, JD’s eidetic memory would ensure much of what he saw would be retained for closer examination when they left this place.

The centre of this room was occupied by a pedestal carved from green soapstone. With the cauldron lamps burning brightly and bouncing light off every surface, the pedestal radiated iridescent colours and appeared utterly breathtaking. However, It was nothing compared to the Tablet itself. It lay flat on its back, carved from heliotrope, or bloodstone, as it was more commonly known, with swirls of red against black. The words inscribed upon it was filled with gold and aesthetically, it did look capable of unmaking the world.

“My God,” Orin exclaimed softly. “It’s here. It’s really here.”

Chris supposed for Orin, this was the culmination of a lifetime of worry and secrecy, the final act of a play that began almost forty years ago by four friends who thought they were embarking on an adventure, only to have it rule their lives forever. Chris exchanged a glance at both Vin and JD, reaching a unanimous decision in their silence.

“Orin,” Chris stepped back. “Go ahead, take it.”

Orin Travis shot Chris a look, one filled with a gamut of bittersweet emotions. He stared at the Tablet and wished more than anything his friends were here to share the moment, especially William.  William had understood the Tablet better than all of them and deserved to be here even more than him.

“Thank you, Chris,” the older man said, trying to hide the emotion in his voice.  Like Chris, he did not express them often and his display of it now revealed how much he was affected.

“Do it for my father Orin,” Alex added gently. “He would have wanted you too.”

Her eyes glistened with moisture then, thinking as Orin was thinking, how William Styles ought to have been present and felt Mary’s fingers in hers, squeezing them tight, offering her a smile of support.

Orin nodded and reached for the Tablet. He picked up the object and marvelled at how this place could exist here, seemingly in a vacuum of space, unaffected by time. The stone felt cool to the touch and sent a slight buzz through his fingertips as if it were lightly charged by some unknown power.

Lifting it up from its surface, he had no more than a moment to reflect upon it when suddenly another loud mechanism was heard and the pedestal started to retreat into the floor. As it descended into a shaft beneath its base, a tremor rumbled through the building, not unlike an earthquake. Trails of dust began to drift to the marble floor and the cauldron lamps shook on their clawed legs, spilling oil across the ground. It coincided with the gold-plated panels against the walls falling away and allowing a deluge of white sand to start flowing into the room.

“Oh, I just knew this was too easy....” Alex groaned, wondering if this nightmare would ever end.

“Orin, give JD the Tablet!” Chris ordered. “ Everyone else, head for the door!” 

The Professor immediately handed the artifact to the younger man, who promptly slid it into his satchel, just in time to hear the cauldrons tipping over, their flame extinguished by the wave of sand quickly swallowing them up in its depths.  Vin had grabbed both Mary and Alex by the arm and was leading them to the doors and down the stairs.  Chris made sure he did the same for Orin as they fled the rapidly filling chamber,  the white grains chasing them down the steps once they passed through the doors.

When they entered the large chamber again, the situation was no better. Sand was beginning to pour through newly formed gaps in the tiles, quickly covering the marble floor. The tremors were growing even more violent, causing the statues standing guard over the Tablet’s inner chamber to rock dangerously back and forth. As Vin, Alex and Mary ran through it, the statue of Marduk started to tip giving Chris, JD, and Orin only a precious few seconds to cross over before it collapsed entirely.

Chris saw a piece of the ceiling break free, to shatter a few inches away from Mary and let out of sigh of relief as Vin pulled her safely out of its path. For his part, Chris kept a firm grip on Orin as they raced at top speed down the steps with JD a few paces ahead before the statue crashed onto the steps, barring their way. He could hear the older man’s panting and hoped it would not do him permanent harm running this way, but there was really nothing for it.

They crossed over just as the statue smashed against the steps, destroying itself and the staircase it landed on.  Large chunks of broken marble chased them across the floor as columns shifted on their bases, threatening to fall.  More and more sand was filling up the room and it appeared as if Enki himself had decided once its purpose was done as the receptacle of the Tablet, it should be swallowed up by the desert again. The six adventurers ran towards the small doorway bringing them into this chamber when it had been projecting its illusion of a vast sea.

It didn’t take them long to reach the doorway, even though when they passed through it, the quaking stopped. Still, the flow of sand spilled through to the next chamber where the group had battled the mummified corpses. Except this time, the corpses remained against the wall, unmoving and oblivious to them as the day they had been interred there thousands of years ago.

As the deluge filled up the chamber and pushed the adventurers to the surface, Chris could only think that Enki was finally claiming Eridu for himself again. 

*******

Chris knew the instant he stepped into the sunlight, something was wrong.

Emerging first, followed by Vin, he had no sooner stepped out of the deepened staircase leading to the top of Eridu when he froze in his tracks. Ezra. Buck, Josiah, and Nathan were just beyond the steps, kneeling on the ground, their arms folded behind their heads, with Erran cultists aimed their guns at them with every intention of shooting them dead if they did not comply.  Turning his head, Chris saw they were surrounded by the Erran in the dozens and knew any attempt to resist was going to get them all killed.

Stepping to the front, flanked by the large henchman called Krestos, and the dark-haired siren who nearly killed him at the Museum, Adashir Shah stepped forward.

“Mr Larabee, how nice to finally meet you,” the man said with the supreme confidence of his power over them all. “I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR:
RITUAL

It was strange how the best things in life could move with such speed, one could get whiplash trying to see through the blur while the worst things slowed down as if making some effort to ensure the experience was endured with agonizing clarity.

Such was the case when Chris Larabee and his companions emerged from the depths of Eridu to be confronted by Adashir Shah and his Erran. It took but a second for Chris to process how things had played out when he saw his friends, Ezra, Buck, Nathan and Josiah, forced to their knees and guarded by the Erran, before he, Vin, JD and Orin were forced into the same position beside them.  Judging by the amount of Erran surrounding them and the number of bullet holes riddling every surface he could see, it was clear his men had put up a good fight before they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

In truth, this had been a possibility looming in Chris’s mind ever since they landed in Riyadh. Mary might not be exaggerating the reach of the Erran and they did indeed have contacts in key positions across the city, preventing the Seven from sneaking into Eridu without notice. He supposed it mattered little now, the Erran were here and thanks to Chris not heeding Vin’s warning about what it would take to stop these fanatics, the Tablet was now in their hands.

Not just the Tablet, but also the two daughters of the men who had first uncovered the Four Pillars.

It took every ounce of control Chris had to hold his temper when he saw Alex and Mary being separated from them, dragged fighting and kicking away by the Erran.  One if not both of the women were needed to conduct the ritual of Uncreation, a ritual the Erran had every intention of performing immediately now the pieces they needed for its completion were finally within reach. Not that it kept the Shah, as Chris heard him being referred to by his followers, from extracting his pound of flesh from the men who caused him so much trouble since the night at the museum.

“You have the Tablet!” Orin spoke up, perfectly aware it was a useless effort, but compelled to make it because his and William Styles’s worst nightmare was unfolding before his very eyes. Not only was the Tablet in the hands of those who would use its power for evil, but the lives of their daughters were now terribly connected to its fate. “Let the girls go.”

Shah, who was flanked by his sister and his henchman Krestos, stared at Orin for a second before bursting into laughter.

“You must be joking. You know the ritual as well as I do, I am certain. If not better,” he gave JD a look of pure contempt, his ire at being tricked by the boy still fresh in his mind. “Thanks to Mr Dunne here. You know that the ladies are required for Tiamat to make her entrance into the world. This one,” he walked over to Alex who was being restrained by an arm around her throat and waist, “will suit the Goddess well.”

“GET YOUR GODDAMN HANDS OFF HER!” Vin growled, eliciting the response Chris was certain the Shah was aiming for. No doubt the man was still smarting from being chased out of the Styles’s home by Vin during his rescue of Alex.  No sooner than the sharpshooter had spoken, he was struck on the back of the head by the Erran standing closest to him. As Vin was thrown face first into the ground the rest of the seven reacted in kind, their rage rippling through them as they were forced to watch helplessly, held at bay by the guns pointed at them.

“Don’t hurt him!” Alex pleaded despite the arm pressing against her windpipe, the fear in her eyes as she saw Vin’s assault, revealing to the men present the true depths of her feelings for Vin Tanner. “I’ll do what you want! Just please, stop!”

Vin raised his eyes to Alex, an expression of anguish crossing his face because he had promised to keep her safe and now he was powerless to do anything, as these bastards prepared to use her for God only knew what. Since meeting her on top of that roof at the museum, Vin knew he was lost. The minute she told him he could stay, he had known subconsciously, she was the one he was waiting for all his life and now he was about to lose her without being able to do a damn thing about it.

“I don’t blame you for your passion Mr Tanner,” Shah remarked approaching Alex while relishing the emotion being traded by the two which made his vengeance all the sweeter.  Running his fingers down Alex’s tear-stained cheeks, she flinched at the contact and sent a surge of fury through every member of the seven, seeing the way she was being touched against her will. Shah’s fingers traced a line down her neck and down her breast, perfectly aware it would send Vin Tanner into a rage and give his men the excuse they needed to dole out more punishment to the infidel who had humiliated him. 

“Vin, he’s just trying to goad you,” Chris said to the younger man, who was fairly shaking with rage at the way the man was touching her. His feelings for Alex had displaced his normally unflappable demeanour making him exceedingly unpredictable, enough to throw caution to the winds and get himself killed. “He can’t hurt her. He needs her alive.”

Vin’s blue eyes flashed and Chris could see that was killer rage in the sharpshooter’s eyes. When the time came, he suspected Adashir Shah was going to know the full vent of it.  Swallowing the bile of anger down his throat, Chris saw Vin nod almost imperceptibly, a promise to keep his head despite the clench fists at his sides showing otherwise.

“She is very beautiful, in fact, they both are. Miss Styles here will be an appropriate offering to Tiamat, a worthy receptacle for a goddess and Miss Travis here,” he said turning his eyes to Chris and Orin. “I will keep for myself. A golden-haired trophy for my efforts to remake the world.”

“I’ll kill you first,” Orin growled and was shoved to the ground with the Shah’s laughter ringing in his ears.

Chris, on the other hand, knew if the Shah laid one hand on Mary, it would be the last thing the bastard ever did in this life.

“I’m nobody’s trophy and I need a man, not an impotent little boy with delusions of grandeur.”  Mary snapped, never being able to tolerate such posturing.

Chris winced inwardly, adoring the woman for her moxie, even though he knew what was coming even before she finished the sentence.

The blow came not from the Shah or his men, but from Aisha, no doubt in retaliation for the indignity of her defeat at Mary’s hands at the museum. She struck Mary across the face hard enough for the blonde woman’s head to snap back. Orin tried to go to his daughter’s aid but one of the Erran moved in quick, pressing the barrel of a gun against his temple, making sure he knew the consequences if he made one more move forward.

Once again, he saw the outrage on the faces of the others, as they watched this display with impotent fury. Buck, in particular, could never stand any threat made to a woman and Chris glared at him to be still because they had to bide their time and wait for an opening. All that would happen if they reacted now, would be to get themselves killed and be no good to either Orin or his daughter. 

Mary recovered from the blow with magnificent poise, shaking it off like a dog shaking water off its back. Her eyes met Chris’s briefly and even without saying a word, he got her message loud and clear.  I’m all right.  While it did not assuage Chris’s worries for her, particularly since the injury to her cut deeper to the bone than Shah’s pathetic posturing, it did give him some comfort knowing she wasn’t badly hurt.

Mary faced front again, her chin raised in defiance, not at all cowed by Aisha’s violence or Shah’s threats. She moved her jaw from side to side as if testing its flexibility before spitting a mouthful of blood right in the woman’s face.

While an audible gasp ran through the Erran at the insult to their Amira, a soft snigger move through the seven as Aisha let out a squeal of disgust, when blood and spittle splattered across her cheek. Krestos moved in to strike Mary, his large bulk standing over her like the proverbial beauty and the beast, as he raised his large hand to deliver revenge for the slight to Aisha who was wiping her face with her veil.

“Mary,” Chris said sharply, drawing all attention to him. He met her blue-grey eyes and wanted to tell him that he thought she was goddamn perfect for what she did, but her defiance was going to get her killed. “Enough.”

Mary was about to respond when she saw his warning for what it was, an impassioned plea not to provoke them any further because any harm to her would cause Orin to react strongly and most likely get her father killed. She saw Aisha’s eyes blazing in fury about to lash out again and braced herself for it when suddenly the Shah spoke.

“A man who knows how to handle his woman,” Shah smirked, more amused by Mary’s action despite the slight to his sister. “I’m afraid we cannot dispense with Miss Travis yet, my dear. We may need her if the ritual doesn’t work.  Once Tiamat is satisfied, she will be a gift to us both.”

The answer seemed to satisfy Aisha who looked at Mary and hissed, “I shall take great pleasure in that.”

****

You smash it so it can’t be used.

Never had any sentence haunted Chris Larabee as much as the words uttered by Vin Tanner, did right now. Still, in the power of the Erran, surrounded by cultists who would shoot him and his comrades down at first opportunity, Chris could do nothing as they were marched to the middle of the eroded ruins of the ancient city.  Thanks to the Shah’s need to gloat, they were going to get ringside seats to the ritual about to take place.

They were in the middle of what appeared to be a square, framed by ruined stone constructs which Chris suspected might resemble those at Stonehenge and Rujm el Hiri before time had broken them down.  Occupying the middle of this circle as if it was the centre stage for its participants.  Chris cursed himself again for not destroying the Tablet while he had the chance, instead of bringing it to the surface where it was now in the hands of the Erran who would make William Styles’s worst fears for his daughter a reality.

Vin was standing next to him, his breathing hard, almost in panic because the sharpshooter could do nothing but watch while the girl he cared for, was being used as the sacrifice for their ritual of Uncreation.  A ritual that would begin once the Goddess Tiamat was resurrected in Alex Styles’s skin. 

As it was, seeing Alex stripped off her clothes, wearing a dark shift that clung to her body, her black hair swirling about her in the wind, made her look very much like a receptacle for divine possession.  Her wrists were shackled by heavy manacles attached to chains connected by two hooks driven into the ground. With the drums pounding in slow halting beats in the background, Alex didn’t look too unlike Fray Wray in that movie about the giant ape.

In the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Mary who was being watched closely by Aisha, who had no intention of letting Orin Travis’s daughter out of her clutches. One way or another, the woman intended to have her vengeance on the blonde.

“Chris, this can’t be real right?” Buck hissed, staring at the fervour in the eyes of the Erran as the Shah stepped forward, about to begin this insane ritual.

“Of course not!” Chris hissed, refusing to believe this was any more than delusion. He was more worried by the Errans’ reaction when the world wasn’t uncreated, proving their pursuit of the Tablet was a fool’s errand. It was likely all of them, Alex included, would be killed out of sheer spite.

“It don’t matter,” Vin said icily. “They believe it!”

“Then again,” Josiah drawled, taking the opportunity to speak since the Erran were preoccupied with what was happening to allow them to talk without consequence, though not enough to escape. “There might be something to it if they’ve maintained their faith for so long.”

“Surely you do not believe this nonsense is going to result in the remaking of the world?”  Ezra exclaimed, staring at the older man in shock as he watched the proceedings in disgust, feeling his southern sensibilities truly provoked at being unable to help the young lady in the centre of all this. “It is nothing but fiction! We have travelled the globe for the last four years and not once have we seen anything that proves the existence of a supernatural force behind any of the artifacts we’ve collected, beyond blind superstition and wishful thinking.”

“Belief is a powerful thing,” Orin stated, his voice strained because what was happening was something he had never wanted to see. His eyes were fixed on his daughter, who while not intended to be apart of this dark ceremony, would still suffer for his sins. “Will believed it and there’s no denying we only had daughters and no other, after that one child. That may not be a coincidence.”

Vin listened to none of this because he was staring at Alex, wanting to break free but knowing if he made one move towards her, he’d be dead before he could even finish the thought. After all the trouble they caused, Vin had no doubt the cultist were waiting for an excuse to end them once and for all, now the Erran were within reach of their goal. Alex was struggling to escape, trying to squeeze her wrists free of those cruel shackles, her eyes meeting his in fear, pleading for help even though she knew he was just as trapped as she.

There was something else, he realised then. The fear in her eyes that this ritual might be as real as the Erran were claiming, that despite the refusal of her logical mind to believe any of this, the possibility that Tiamat may actually claim her soul, was starting to impress itself upon her mind.

“We gotta stop this Chris,” Vin said suddenly, anxiety dripping from every word. “We gotta stop this before...” Before what? The possibility was too unbelievable and yet Vin found himself on the cusp of belief as he questioned what exactly did he mean.  What would happen? Was Alex actually going to become the receptacle for Tiamat?  It was crazy!

Anything he was going to say next was silenced by the Shah finally stepping up to address his followers. Even the drum beating in the background had paused, giving Shah everyone’s undivided attention, his captives included. Behind him, Aisha had stepped forward, holding the Heart in her hands, now fashioned into some kind of necklace with a leather cord, which she promptly slipped over Alex’s head to be worn around her neck.

“It has been a long road my brothers,” Shah addressed them all and though Chris could still feel the barrel of a gun pressed against his spine, his guard, like all the other Erran, made themselves heard in a rumble of agreement that moved through the crowd like a dissonant wave.

“We have waited since the beginning of history to return Tiamat to her rightful place, to have her rise and destroy the infidels who have taken over the world, denying prosperity to all but a select few. Infidels have crushed our spirits, kept us silent while forcing us to accept the truth of their jealous god, who would have us bow to no other,  for fear of death. Well, we will now show them a true god, one who created the world and the stars, before she was wrongfully struck down.  Tiamat, will rise in the flesh and walk amongst us again,” he looked at Alex.

“YOU’RE INSANE!” Alex shouted, her nerve finally failing her. She had tried not to buy into this nonsense but the fervour she saw in the eyes of her captors was making her believe it was more than her life she was about to lose, but her soul as well.

“Fear not,” the Shah walked back to her smiling, “your pain will disappear. Your doubts will vanish. When Tiamat takes you, you will be the mother of all, the Queen of Forever.”

“Alex!” Vin called out to her, trying to will her his strength even if he could do nothing else. “It’s gonna be okay! Just look at me darlin’.  Just look at me!” 

It was breaking him inside to see her terror, even if they still had trouble accepting that Tiamat might be coming down to possess her. Yet there was no doubt in either of their minds, something terrible was about to happen.

Alex could feel it pressing down on her, making her feel like the sands of her life were running out. She stared at him, thinking about how perfect their first meeting had been, how he had chased away the despair threatening to overwhelm her in the wake of her father’s death.  Whatever happened, she wanted him to know that, wanted him to remember what they could have been to each other.

“Whatever happens Vin, I’ll never forget what it was like to share Sugar babies with you on that roof.”

“Me neither Darlin’” Vin replied, ignoring the fact they were being watched even though he was certain the Shah was watching their exchange with smug relish.

Chris saw Vin’s anguish and gritted his teeth, feeling his senses damn near overload from the fury at being unable to do anything to stop this...whatever it was...from happening. He didn’t have to look at the others to know they were similarly furious while the pain on Orin’s face was indescribable, just as the sorrow on Mary’s face at what was happening was reflected in her blue-grey eyes. Once again, Chris cursed himself at not destroying the Tablet when he had the chance because now it was going to rip Alex’s soul from her. 
Even as his mind railed against the impossibility of it, something in the last few seconds had started to feel very real about the Shah’s belief in the Tablet.

“You never know Mr Tanner,” the Shah said almost grinning. “Tiamat may need a  consort.”

“Go to hell!” Vin barked and this time he did move, but before he could take a step forward, was struck against the back of his head once more. This time the tracker did hit the dirt and the look of triumph on the Shah’s face made Chris swear to kill the bastard himself, no matter how this turned out.  If the world was going to be uncreated, Chris Larabee was going to make damn certain the Shah never got to enjoy it.

“Vin!” Alex cried out. “I said I’ll do what you want! Don’t hurt him!”

The  Shah ignored her, throwing a smile at his sister and Krestos respectively, before lowering his eyes to the Tablet in his hands and beginning to read the gold inscribed words that had waited for four millennia to be recited.

“GEMEGANZA OD CNILA GEMEGANZA NOSTOAH OIAD OL OIAD LONCHO GEMEGANZA. GAHA OIAD NANAEEL OL!”

“What’s he saying?”  Nathan asked no one in particular.

While both JD and Orin were listening carefully, it was JD who made the translation.

“Great Tiamat, Creator Goddess, this is your legacy to the world, your instrument of creation, use its strength and return from your place of exile. Ride the winds that took you from us and be whole again.”

As he said those words, the sun which had been shining glaringly overhead in disapproval, suddenly vanished behind thick, heavy clouds that seemed to appear in the sky out of nowhere. Chris had to blink at the sight of them because he distinctly remembered seeing it blue and cloudless only a few seconds ago. Now all traces of it had vanished, concealed by heavy, pregnant clouds that promised a storm of some intensity when it arrived.

No sooner than the overcast sky was registered, he heard the whistle of a strong wind dragging the sand across the dunes as if someone were pulling the covers over the desert. The powerful winds began tugging on their robes, causing it to billow and Chris caught sight of Buck’s eyes and saw the puzzlement on the face of his old friend. He could well understand why. As a pilot, Buck had a better sense of the weather than anyone in the Seven and he could tell that this sudden change disturbed him.

“What is it?” Chris hissed.

“I don’t know,” Buck shook his head. “But this don’t feel right.”

In the background, the Shah continued to recite the ritual, his voice growing louder and more fevered, the more he read.

“OBZA OIAD OL TELOC OL GEMEGANZA LOAGAETH MAD OD COMMAH OIAD NOSTOAH one. NANAEEL GEMEGANZA NOASMI AG NOSTOAH CORSI IP NANAEEL. OD NOROMI IP OL BRGDO CRCRG OL!”

“Come to us from the Vault of Heaven, from the stars in the cloudless sky and from the blood of the great twin rivers, we call to you oh Tiamat! Come and be whole again, come and take your place as Queen of the Universe. Mother Creator!”

A bolt of lightning flashed across the dark sky behind Alex, creating spidery tendrils of blue against the grey cumulus. It was followed by a sharp crack of thunder that made Alex stiffen where she stood, her spine suddenly becoming ramrod straight.  The wind was blowing harder and the shadows caused by the overcast sky, surrounded Alex like a shroud until her golden skin seemed almost black and only her eyes could be seen. Except they weren’t the soft, brown pool that so captured Vin Tanner’s heart.

Now they were totally white, without irises.

“Jesus Christ...” Vin hissed.

She wasn’t listening. The fear and sorrow in her face had melted away and her expression was one of vacancy. She held out her arms as if waiting to receive something unseen and the shadows swirling around her felt almost alive, like dark tongues of black that coiled around her arms and around her waist. Her hair was blowing in the wind, the strands taking on a life of their own and being shaped into something that seemed ominous and terrible.

“What’s happening to her!?” Buck demanded, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

“It’s taking her!” Vin started to get up but the Erran behind him forced him back into place. “Tiamat is taking her!”

Hearing the name, Alex’s eyes moved in his direction briefly but if she recognised him, she did not indicate it. Instead, her chin jerked up suddenly, her white eyes staring into the sky above. The Shah was still reciting his words, invoking the power of the Tablet as the clouds above them opened up, revealing not the blue sky, but a vortex of black spewing out flecks of diamond dust whose shape bore the resemblance to a dragon.

“She comes.”   Shah laughed. “Tiamat is coming!”

Then suddenly, without warning, the loud crack of a gunshot was heard and the skull of Adashir Shah, a descendant of Sassanid king Adashir the First, exploded.

******

“There,” the woman lowered the Russian Mosin–Nagant sniper rifle and did not need to use her binoculars to know she made the shot. “That ought to give Mr Larabee some room to maneuver.”

“You think that will do it, Miss?” Captain Francis Riley who was observing the aftermath of the shot through the telescopic sight of his own rifle, asked even though he had to admit, she was a bloody good shot.

“Yes,” Julia Pemberton replied, getting to her feet before she dusted the sand off her breeches. “I think that will satisfy my account with the Shah’s father very nicely.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE:
TIAMAT

Chris didn’t believe in divine intervention but when the Shah’s head exploded, spraying blood and meat across Aisha and Krestos, Chris was ready to believe in God.

And damn if he didn’t love the Almighty’s methods.

A split second after the gunshot, which both Chris and Vin recognized immediately as one fired by a rifle, had a chance to fade away, the roar of the wind and the thunderclaps bursting like artillery shells, was temporarily eclipsed by Aisha’s hysterical scream as she watched her brother sink to his knees.  Shock and horror gripped the Erran as they watched their leader collapse to the ground, half his face missing, while his sister ran to his side anguished.  Krestos was still staring at the grisly scene in stupefied shock, no longer noticing the ritual set in motion by what now appeared to be Adashir Shah’s last words, was still continuing without him.

Alexandra Styles was oblivious to the unexpected wrinkle in her circumstances. She was staring up at the sky, looking into that black hole beyond the clouds, awaiting the arrival of whatever power was descending upon her like a spectral dragon about to consume her. Her lips were moving, continuing to recite the words that the Shah had been unable to complete.  She appeared almost exultant as if welcoming the beast about to descend upon her.

“COMMAH OIAD NOSTOAH NANAEEL GEMEGANZA NOASMI AG NOSTOAH CORSI IP NANAEEL. OD NOROMI IP OL BRGDO CRCRG!”

It was only when the second rifle shot rang out, dropping another Erran, this one standing next to Krestos, who had obviously been the target, was when all hell broke loose.  It was followed by another, in rapid succession by a third shot and this sent the entire area into complete pandemonium. Aisha was still kneeling at her brother’s side, wailing in sorrow at his death, her robes covered in the Shah’s blood.  Krestos was shouting at the Erran, telling them to get cover even as another shot caused another one of his men to die where they were standing.

Taking advantage of the confusion gripping the Erran behind him as Krestos barked at the scattering Erran to locate their leader’s killer, Chris Larabee decided the moment to escape was now.

Swinging around while the man who had a gun to his back was distracted, Chris twisted sharply and caught the hand holding the weapon. When the Erran saw what was happening, he instinctively pulled the trigger. Chris shoved his hand aside before the bullet was discharged, sending it into the Erran guarding Buck.  The pilot reacted immediately, snapping his head back hard and connecting with the face behind it, even as its owner was reeling in pain from the bullet. Buck spun around and snatched the weapon from his hand before turning his attention to the other Erran guarding his friends.

As the man took aim to fire, JD threw himself back and slammed his body into the man’s side, forcing him to pull the trigger and sending his shot wide.  Cursing, the Erran was about to react before Buck promptly put a bullet in the man’s skull and ended the son of a bitch before he could harm JD who just risked his life for Buck.

The latest shot from the high-powered rifle brought down another Erran and it appeared whoever was firing the shots were picking targets at random. In the same way, Vin laid cover fire to provide them with a distraction whenever they got into trouble, their mysterious ally was out there putting down the Erran was performing the same service for them now. Whoever their guardian angel was, Chris was not about to argue because, with each Erran dropping to the ground, the rest were driven further into panic.

Meanwhile, the rest of the seven were utilising the distraction provided most effectively.   Josiah had gotten the upper hand with the Erran closest to him and was presently driving the man into a wall, forcing him to relinquish his gun. The weapon fell harmless against the hard, baked sand as Josiah repeated the action a second and a third time before the collision knocked him out cold and left a smear of blood against the rock. Picking up the weapon quickly, Josiah stepped over the body and went to seek out the rest of his friends.

Ezra was in the process of wrestling with his Erran assailant, elbowing the throat of the man he was fighting, cutting off the air from his lungs and distracting him long enough to wrestle away his gun. As the enemy clutched his throat, Ezra put him down for good and went to assist Nathan who was on the floor, rolling around with an Erran whose gun was out of reach but not the blade he was preparing to drive into the healer’s stomach. However, when it came to knives, Nathan had no peer.  Wrenching the dagger out of the man’s grip, Nathan drove the blade through the soft flesh of the man’s chin and ended him there and then.

And then there was Vin.

Vin Tanner was only focussed on one thing and that was what was still taking place in the middle of the square. Almost as if she was existing in a vacuum, completely oblivious to the carnage taking place around her,  Alex was continuing the ritual even though the Shah was dead. Vin did not know what it was that was in that shower of silver descending upon her, the one that was shaped like some kind of dragon, but he knew if it reached her, without understanding how he could be so certain, it would be too late. Not just for Alex, but for all of them.

Rushing forward, he ignored the sound of gunfire coming from behind him, no doubt the result of Chris and the others getting loose or the sniper fire of someone who was apparently watching their backs. Whoever it was, Vin would like to buy them a drink, if they lived through this that is.  Aisha was still sobbing with the Shah’s body in her arms and if the bastard didn’t completely deserve getting his brains blown out across the dirt, he might have felt sympathy for her but right now, all he could see was Alex.

“Alex!” Vin called her name but she was no longer registering him or anything else taking place around her.

Throughout the pandemonium of gunfire and bullets, the gusty wind and the claps of thunder had not abated. If anything they had intensified, making Vin think he was in the war, running through the ruined landscape in France, with artillery exploding around him and bodies lying everywhere as German and Allied guns attempted to annihilate each other.   Yet Vin knew that was just a war, what would happen if this thing possessed Alex may well mean the end of everything.

“Alex!” He called out as he reached her, grabbing her arm so she would notice he was there.

She swept him aside with a backhanded blow hard enough to send him sprawling. Vin was almost airborne after she struck him and he landed a few feet away from her, gaping in astonishment as she continued to recite those terrible words he couldn’t understand but oozed menace. The cloud was descending even faster, and though he was certain he was imagining it, he almost saw the silhouette of some great beast, flapping its wide, webbed wings as it slowly closed in on her.

Like Vin, JD’s attention was fixed on what was happening to Alex, aware from his studies of  William Styles’s research, that the gunfight taking place around them was the least of their troubles. He did not know if the world was really going to uncreate but what was taking place around them was making a rather compelling argument for it. The sky was indeed opening up and whatever that shape approaching Alex was, he knew it had to be stopped and it had to be stopped now.

“Buck I gotta go help, Vin!” JD told the big man. “She’s coming and we’ve gotta stop it!”

“Who’s coming!” Buck asked as he shot another Erran from behind the wall they were taking refuge.

“Tiamat!” JD pointed to Alex, who had just swatted Vin away like a fly. “She’s coming to take Alex. The minute she does, she’ll be unstoppable! We can’t let that happen!”

Buck was about to tell the kid he was crazy, that this was a whole load of hooey,  but then he put the pieces together of everything they had seen since the Shah began reading from the Tablet. Hell, he didn’t know if the world was about to end or not, but there were way too many ladies he had yet to meet for that idea to be palatable.  Besides, JD was smarter than all of them put together, even if the kid was young. If the JD  said there was a reason to worry, Buck was going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“GO!” Buck ordered. “I’ll cover you!”

JD nodded and waited as Buck lay down the cover fire needed and rushed into the fray, hoping to hell they could stop a god from coming to earth.

*****

When Chris saw Vin heading towards Alexandra Styles, it prompted him into seeking out Mary Travis now that things had gone to hell.  It didn’t take him long to find the golden-haired beauty in the scattering of red robes and gunfire. The Erran guard who had been restraining her was discovering just how tenacious and difficult the woman could be when one let one’s guard down.

Welcome to my world, pal, Chris thought. 

From his refuge behind a crumbling rock wall, he saw the gun carried by the Erran sail across the ground after Mary managed to get the drop on him by promptly kicking the weapon out of his hands. Not giving him enough time to go for the blade whose hilt was so obviously sticking out of his belt, she completed the maneuver with a roundhouse kick that had her spinning on heels like a dancer, before laying the guy out flat on his back.

He was about to go after her when suddenly he caught sight of Vin flying across the ground. The sharpshooter landed hard as Chris tried to unravel what he had seen. It took only a second for him to realise it was Alex who had done that to him and as Vin scrambled to his feet attempting to deal with the situation, he heard Orin Travis shouting after him.

“Chris!”  The older man was crouched behind a jagged column, shielded from the bullets and the dust storm created by the strange forces surrounding the Tablet.  Although Chris’s first instincts had been to go to Mary, the truth was his conditioning to obey Orin was simply too strong.  Keeping his head down, Chris narrowed the gap between them and was soon at his former commander’s side

 “You have to get Mary!” The professor shouted over the gale. “I’m going after the  Tablet!”

“Why?” Chris shouted, having thought the best way to help Alex was to get rid of the Heart worn around her neck.  Still, truth be told, this whole situation was so far out of his experience, he wasn’t certain if it was entirely the right thing to do.

“Because Alex is connected to the Tablet!” Orin explained hastily. “To it and through it, Tiamat!”

Once again, Chris fought the urge to dismiss this whole thing as superstitious nonsense, but the impossible was unfolding in front of his eyes and he knew he had to accept it if he wanted to stop what was happening. Something was emerging from that black vortex from the sky, something with shape and substance, moving on its own power towards Alex, who was no longer fighting its approach but was caught in a trance that seemed to be inviting it in. This was beyond his understanding but it didn’t matter, Orin was right. The Tablet was the key.

“How do we stop it?” Chris asked, discarding the last of his doubts the goddess was indeed on her way and with her arrival, the end of everything they knew would not be far behind.

“The Tablet has to be destroyed!” Orin stated, echoing the action Vin had wanted to take from the beginning. As it was, the sharpshooter was attempting to reach his girl with little success.  “The link between them has to be broken. The Tablet was created by Tiamat and its how she’s going to ride her way into Alex!”

Chris could well believe it. Alex was staring up at the heavens, the whites of her eyes only visible now as she held out her shackled hands as if she were about to welcome an old friend. Like Vin, Chris knew it that happened, they would lose her for good and then nothing would matter because Tiamat’s day would have arrived.

And the Uncreation would begin.

*****

Aisha was numb.

She held Dash’s body in her arms, trying to comprehend how this corpse with its half face, was her brother. One side of his head was a ruined mess of flesh and bone while the other still retained his beauty. She knelt on the ground, still soaked in his blood, trapped in the disbelief at how the moment of their triumph could go so completely wrong.  Sparing a brief glance across the ancient square, Aisha surveyed the situation and saw the Erran were still scattering to avoid the unknown assailant cutting them down. Equally bad was the escape of the seven men who had caused them such inconvenience.

“I will make them pay,” she swore under her breath. “I will make certain the Goddess makes them all BURN!!”

She saw the lover of William Styles’s daughter making some futile attempt to reach her, although by now the link between her and Tiamat made that impossible. Even now, Aisha saw Tiamat’s imminent arrival, saw her beating wings in the sky above and knew when the Goddess came, she would remake the world.  Understanding struck Aisha at that instant with the intensity of the lightning flashes in the sky above her. The power of it left her gasping at the possibilities.

Tiamat could bring Dash back! If she could uncreate the world for a new one, she could bring back Dash, her most loyal servant. Surely, what they had gone through to shepherd her return to the world deserved a reward!  Yes, Tiamat could bring Dash back!

This realization coincided with the observation one of the seven, the boy, was making a run for the Tablet.  It took her but a second to discern what he was going to do and Aisha would not have it. The Tablet was Dash’s best hope of survival, she would let nothing stop Tiamat’s arrival  Releasing her brother’s body and uttering a soft sob when she saw him roll off her lap into the blood-soaked sand, Aisha allowed her anguish fuel her actions next.

If the boy tried to stop the ritual Aisha was going to kill him.

****

With the wind lashing at her blond hair, Mary brushed the strands of gold out of her face as she saw the Erran whom she had knocked flat on his back, get on his feet, his face a mask of outrage at the indignity of having a woman get the better of him. Flashing her a set of yellowed teeth that gave Mary the immediate urge to floss, she looked around for a weapon as he brandished the cruel looking jambia, ready to use it on her.

“I will gut you like a fish!” He swore at her and stabbed the point at her, forcing Mary to jump back in an effort to avoid the weapon. She knew the smart thing to do would be to run but there were too many bullets crisscrossing the square right now and she had been trying to reach Alex, who was caught in a supernatural nightmare with no help in sight.

 Mary and Alex had grown up together and were practically sisters. Although they lived in separate cities, they still maintained a close relationship which was difficult to do, given Mary’s nomadic lifestyle as a journalist.

Somehow Mary had to get past this chauvinistic buffoon to help her.

“I hope you do that better than you fight!” She shouted, dropping to her knees to avoid his latest swipe and scrambled away when suddenly, Chris Larabee appeared out of nowhere and brought the butt of his gun against the back of the man’s skull. He tumbled forward, uttering a short shriek when he landed. As he rolled onto his back, Mary saw he had inadvertently impaled himself on his jambia and become his own killer.

“I softened him up for you,” Mary looked up to see Chris offering her his hand.

“Yeah, I could tell,” Chris remarked as he pulled her up, wearing his usual sardonic expression but in truth, he was relieved to see she was alright and also a little proud at how magnificently she had held her own with the son of a bitch bleeding at their feet. When another bullet exploded too close to his ear, Chris flinched and quickly grabbed her arm so they could get moving.

“Come on, we need to get you to cover!”

“To hell with that,” Mary snapped. “We have to help Alex!”

Without giving him a chance to debate the matter, she darted past him, hurrying towards trouble, leaving Chris cursing after her and wondering to himself, how she had become the tiger he had caught by the tail.

****

The Tablet had flown out of the Shah’s hand when he was shot, landing face up in the sand. As JD Dunne approached it, he saw the golden words gleaming with some hidden power and knew that it was Tiamat’s approach making it glow. Keeping his head down amidst the gunfire, he knew Buck was covering him as he closed the distance. Vin was on the ground again, suffering another blow from Alex after his efforts to coax her back to herself had failed. Vin didn’t understand Alex wasn’t in charge anymore.

“VIN!” JD shouted at the man as he continued towards the Tablet, hoping to stop Vin from making any more futile attempts to reach Alex. “She can’t hear you anymore! The Tablet’s the only way to get her back.”

From where he was, JD saw Vin’s eyes flash in understanding before he returned his attention to the Tablet, still lying in the sand where the Shah had dropped it. As he closed in on the artifact, he saw the Shah’s sister heading for it too, and judging by the glare she sent him, she had no intention of letting him get to it first.  Refusing to let her beat him to the Tablet, JD sprinted forward, ignoring the danger to himself because if she got her hands on it, Alexandra Styles fate would be sealed and JD cared too much for Vin to see him devastated.

However, when he passed the Shah’s dead body, it occurred to him Aisha might have stakes almost as high,  invested in the Tablet. With it, she might have a chance at resurrecting her dead brother.

JD skidded to the ground, even as bullets riddled the dirt and broken ruins around him, trailed by the same cloud that followed a runner sliding into home plate. As he did so, he snatched up the Tablet before coming to a stop, with the weight of the thing slowing him down quickly.  It seemed to vibrate against him as if charged by power. Unfortunately, JD did not have much time to ponder this because when he looked up, he saw Aisha looming over him.  She appeared almost savage, covered in her brother’s fresh blood.

“GIVE ME THAT!” She demanded but the words sounded like the angry snarl of an animal.

“Sorry ma’am,”  JD replied rolling onto his knees. “I plan on finishing college and you uncreating the world is just gonna mess that up!”

“Infidel!” She cursed and rushed at JD, jabbing the blade in his direction. 

JD blocked the strike with the tablet, feeling the customary shudder that came with the sound of metal chinking against stone.  However, the woman was a hellion and she apparently knew how to wield a knife because she recovered far quicker than JD gave her credit and struck again. This time JD could not avoid the blade and felt it sink into his side. He uttered a cry of pain and felt warm blood spilling down his hip, soaking his shirt. The metallic smell almost made him gag but JD was not letting go of the Tablet.

“JD!” Vin cried out, seeing JD stagger,  even though the kid had somehow remained on his feet and was continuing to keep his grip on the Tablet but he was hurt bad and Vin could see it even as he closed in on them. The woman, aware she had dealt a crippling blow, moved in to finish her victory with a kill.  Vin was going to deny her that. Ignoring the fact he was dealing with a woman, Vin slammed into her like a linebacker. He heard her utter a cry of indignation as he tackled her to the ground, the knife still in her grip.

As Vin wrestled with the woman, JD grit his teeth and ignored the pain, his hand still clutching the Tablet, while the other was holding his side, trying to ease the blood flow he knew pulsing out of his wound. It didn’t matter, he told himself.   No one was getting their hands on the Tablet, not when the stakes were as high as they were. So many had died because of this thing already, he wasn’t about to let another person end up the same way.

Even if the last life it took was his.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX:
ENTROPY

Even as he was holding down the Shah’s sister, trying to keep her from gutting him with that knife of hers, Vin was more interested in where JD had gone.

Despite the somewhat frenzied struggles of the woman beneath him, Vin was used to going hand to hand with Indians who were a hell of a lot more challenge than this fanatic with her fancy knife. He was trying to pin her down, but she was fighting him every inch of the way and though he was resisting the urge to take his fists to her, he knew the time was fast dwindling when he had a choice in the matter. Even as she tried to take a bite out of his neck, which he responded to with a hard smack of his forehead against hers, he could see the kid stumbling away from the scene, the patch of blood soaking his shirt growing larger by the second.

Something moved in the corner of his eye and Vin had just enough time to glance over his shoulder before he saw the behemoth named Krestos about to bring both fists down on his back. With faster reflexes than the man about to attack him, Vin immediately let go of the woman’s hand and rolled off her body. Krestos barely stopped himself from taking Vin’s place on top of Aisha as his quarry slipped out of reach. Vin was still on the floor, needing to buy time to get upright. He kicked out his foot, the heel of his boot connecting with the man’s ribs hard enough for Vin to hear something crack.

The Erran henchman uttered a groan as he staggered back, providing enough of a gap for Aisha to scramble out from under him and resumed her pursuit of JD again.  Unfortunately, Vin was in no position to stop her. As it was, he wasn’t even sure he could take this big bastard alone. A brief glance at the shadows closing in on Alex told Vin, he had no choice but to try. If he was going to be any help to her, he had to get past this son of a bitch.

Krestos reeled from the blow but recovered quickly enough. Once he overcame the shock that an unknown enemy had emerged out of nowhere and snatched the Shah away from them at the moment of their greatest triumph, he realized the Amira was now their leader and she was in danger. As he was duty bound to protect her brother, he was more determined to do the same for her because of their personal relationship.  While Aisha was living and the Tablet was within reach, the Erran could still fulfil their destiny. 

Vin saw the man towering over him and cursed under his breath. Aiming for the throat, it wasn’t exactly the fairest way to fight but that chest was almost twice his size and Vin had a feeling, aiming for it was going to do little good. He threw a well-aimed punch but Krestos proved immediately he had reflexes almost as good, despite his size. He caught Vin’s fist in his large meaty palm with ease and clenched so hard, Vin knew it wouldn’t take much exertion for the man to break his fingers.

Son of a bitch, Vin cursed as Krestos chose to grab his arm and twist hard instead.  Vin fairly spun around in mid-air before landing hard on his back. He had no more than a split second to catch his breath from that maneuver when he saw Krestos about to bring down a boot on his sternum. Vin rolled away just in time to avoid having his chest crushed but Krestos was determined to stomp him into the ground and crush him like an insect underfoot.

“Get away from him before I put a bullet in your goddamn head!” Chris Larabee’s voice suddenly shouted over the sound of the roaring wind.

Vin knew Chris would never shoot a man in the back without a warning and hoped Krestos had sense enough to comply but even as Krestos started to turn around to face Chris, Vin could see the calculation in his eyes. Before he turned to face Chris, Vin glimpsed the murderous rage in his eyes and knew he was not going to go down without a fight.  As he started to turn towards Chris, Vin saw his hand move ever so slightly but it was enough to prompt the sharpshooter to shout a warning.

“Chris watch out!”

Krestos flung a jambia at Chris who pulled the trigger at the same time. While the blade dug into Chris’s thigh, the gunshot stuck Krestos in the shoulder, wounding him just as badly.  Vin jumped to his feet and leapt onto Krestos's back, locking an arm around the man’s throat and held on. He’d once had to break in a particularly testy horse when working at a ranch in Texas and Vin hoped this wasn’t going to be as hard.

******

With blood running down his fingers, now staining his pants, JD saw Aisha coming at him again, now that she was able to escape Vin, who was preoccupied with Krestos. Searching the area, he saw the others busily fighting off the remaining Erran and knew he had no help there.  The pain was almost total and JD knew in his present condition, he was in no shape to stop her.  However, he was damned if he was going to let her have to let the tablet. Now when he could see Tiamat’s spirit about to descend on Alex to take possession of her body. He estimated they had little more than minutes before it was too late.

“Give it to me!” Aisha stalked the boy once more, holding out her jambia like a lioness about to bring down game. She would endure no further delay. Even now, she could see her brother’s dead body being covered by the shifting desert sands. If life was to be brought back to him, it had to be done now.  “Give it to me and I’ll make your death painless! Fight, and I’ll carve you up like the pig you are.”

Aisha lunged at JD, this time aiming for the young man’s chest, aware his hands were too occupied to stop her from killing him.  He stepped back instinctively when suddenly Mary Travis came out of the dust storm and caught Aisha’s wrist, halting any attempt to impale him with the weapon. Mary followed up the catch with a timely kick to the woman’s leg, driving her to her knees. As Mary maintained a vise-like grip of Aisha who was struggling to wrench her arm free, the blond turned to JD.

“JD! Go destroy that thing!” Mary Travis ordered before slamming a palm in Aisha’s temple, this time driving her to the ground.  “NOW!”

“No!” Aisha screamed when she hit the ground and saw through her daze, the boy staggering away, his clothes stained with blood but still clutching the Tablet tight. She watched him disappear into the growing dust storm taking over the square and headed to the epicentre of the maelstrom.  She could no longer see Dash’s body and realized he like the tablet was slipping out of reach.

Enraged she scrambled to her feet and faced the blond witch who was keeping her from the Tablet. Still clutching the knife, she glared at Orin Travis’s daughter and jabbed the jambia in her direction, determined to slice the woman’s belly open.  “You have interfered in my affairs for the last time, infidel whore! I am going to kill you.”

“So you say!” Mary retorted and sidestepped the woman ’s overextended reach when she thrust the blade in Mary’s direction. The blond journalist slammed an elbow against her back, sending her sprawling. Before she could fall, Mary kicked her once more, planting a foot in the small of her back and sent her stumbling out of control. Aisha landed on her knees again. But this time Mary didn’t hold back. She kicked the hand holding the blade and sent it flying through the air, disappearing somewhere beyond the cloud of dust circling them.

As soon as the knife disappeared, Mary pulled Aisha to her feet by the shoulders and punched her hard enough to hear bone crunch.   This time, when Aisha went down, she stayed there.

*****

Grateful that Miss Travis was dealing with the Shah’s sister, JD staggered away from the scene, searching for anything he could use to destroy the Tablet. He couldn’t see Chris and Vin anymore, because the storm created by Tiamat’s approach had made it damn near impossible to see. He was squinting through the grains of sand threatening to blind him, trying to see where the others were in this maelstrom of dust and wind.  All he knew was above him, Tiamat was going to make her arrival.

Two figures appeared through the dust and JD tensed, unable to tell whether they were friend or foe.  He had no weapon except the tablet and he was hurt. If they came to steal it from him, JD didn’t know if he would be in any position to stop them.  Taking a deep breath as they closed in, he resolved himself to fight them, because if he lost the tablet, it wouldn’t be the end just for him, it would be the end of everything. He could not bear knowing his failure meant the friends, no the family,  he found in the last year, who welcomed him into the fold, would be condemned right along with him.

However, when the shape appeared it wasn’t an enemy, it was the one person JD wanted to see most if he was going to leave the mortal coil.

“Jesus Christ! JD!” Buck Wilmington exploded as soon as he realized the stumbling figure through the storm was JD Dunne. When the Professor had gone after the tablet, Buck chose to accompany him, aware that JD had gone after the thing himself and wanted to make sure the kid was alright. Staring at JD now, his shirt and pants soaked in blood, filled Buck with nothing less than raw panic.  On top of his voice, Buck bellowed so loudly it might have given Tiamat who was about to make her earthly debut, pause.

“NATHAN! JD’S HURT!”

“Hey Buck,” JD let out a  deep sigh of relief at seeing both Buck and Orin Travis because it now meant he could rest and let this cup pass from him to another. In a way, it was only appropriate. This whole affair had begun with Orin Travis and his friends all those years ago. It was only right it ought to end with him. 

“Hey Professor, you think you can take this thing now? It’s getting kind of heavy.”

“I imagine it is,” Orin spoke, trying to keep the emotion from his voice. If anything were to happen to this boy because of the tablet, Orin would never forgive himself. So many had died already, paying for the sins of his youth. He couldn’t bear it if that price also included JD Dunne. “You can rest easy son. You did well. I’ll take care of this now.”

Through the storm, he saw the familiar silhouette of Nathan Jackson appearing with the remaining members of the seven. The Erran, those who were not dead, were leaderless and in disarray.  Orin saw these friends who forged a bond in the trenches of Europe, much like the one he shared with Hank, Donnie, and Will, and prayed they would always be seven.  More than anything, he wished at this pivotal moment, he was not the last man standing. A profound sense of sorrow filled him then, along with the knowledge it was time to finish this, not for the sake of Alex or the world, but for the friends who were no longer here.

The kid had handed off the tablet and collapsed in the pilot’s arms when Nathan reached them.

“Oh Christ,” Nathan exclaimed seeing the state of their youngest member.  They had taken from him most of his medical supplies, except what he carried on him, having been deemed during the search by the Erran to be harmless.  Yet, seeing all that blood made Nathan fear, it was not nearly enough. “Quick, let me look at him.”

As Nathan tended to JD with Buck holding him, Orin Travis knew his own course. “You take care of the boy, I’m going to destroy this thing.”

“You ain’t going anywhere alone Professor,” Buck Wilmington looked up from where he was cradling JD in his arms as Nathan pulled open his bloodied shirt.  “Ezra, Josiah go with him.”

“I can manage alone...” Orin started to say when Ezra cut him off.

“Professor, you are not going to face this without us. If it were not for you, none of us would be here.” Even though he was shouting, Ezra still managed to make his case most eloquently and the impassioned plea, one not customary for him, was affecting.   “Resign yourself to the fact you are stuck with us.”

“Amen,” Josiah said adding his voice to the statement.  Without Orin Travis, they would not have each other and their lives would be so much poorer for it. In the war, the man had kept them alive and after it, he had brought them together and gave them the bond they now shared. He was much a part of that brotherhood as any one of the seven and it was time Orin understood that. 

Touched by the sentiment, and feeling emotions that were too hard to deal with at present, Orin looked up to the sky and saw the shadow of Tiamat finally upon them.

“Gentlemen,  I believe we have a genie to put back in the bottle.”

****

Somewhere in her mind, Alexandra Styles was screaming.

It felt as if she were trapped within a cell of glass, where she could see through her own eyes like one staring out a window but at the same time, her cell was shrinking. Smashing her fists against the barrier, she could do nothing to escape and was forced to witness her doom while being powerless to stop it. Those strange words she could hear being uttered using her voice but were not her own seemed to be the source of it all and even though she covered her mouth with her hand, hoping to silence herself, the words kept coming.

She saw Vin trying to reach her but her pleas to him went unheeded and the thing using her flesh like a suit of clothes, was hurting him. Watching his determination to reach her, no matter how much abuse his body suffered, made her heart break from the sheer pain of it. His love for her and that was what she was seeing in his eyes every time he looked at her, made Alex wish she had said it to him because she surely felt the same.

Now as the walls closed in around her until she was feeling doom press up against her spine, threatening to snuff out her existence for all time perhaps, she knew she was never going to get the chance.

*****

“Good God!” Ezra exclaimed as they reached Alexandra Styles.

The woman standing in the middle of the square was not the young doctor in waiting whom they had come to know just a scant week ago.  Gone was any trace of the lady who joked and bantered with Buck, who held her own in a poker game with him, or argued Descarte with Josiah. No longer was she the medical student who treated Nathan like a colleague, or the fellow college student of JD, and she was certainly not the girl who made Vin light up every time she walked in the room.

She was Tiamat.

Her skin was now marked by strange symbols and markings, not unlike those found on the tablet. Golden words were carved into her skin were glowing and all that could be seen of her eyes were the whites. Her hair was blowing around her like the serpent coils of a gorgon and her hands were no longer shackled.  She was an empty receptacle, Ezra realized, waiting to be filled.

“Professor, I think we are out of time.”

Orin nodded and saw Will’s worst nightmare unfold before his eyes.  Everything his old friend had ever done was to ensure their daughters never had to face this fate. Yet here he was now, seeing it about to claim Will’s beloved Alexandra.  As he stared at the girl, who was looking at him with Willi’s eyes but lacking its warmth, there was not an ounce of recognition for any one of them. He had to do something before Tiamat’s possession of her body became permanent. Searching the area for what he needed, Orin sighted it after a few seconds and knew if Alex wasn’t registering them now, she soon would be.

“There!” Orin pointed and hurried to what he had found, the tablet clutched tightly next to his body. 

Ezra followed him while Josiah remained behind to keep an eye on Alex since neither man was reluctant to leave her alone in her present condition or allow Orin to go anywhere on his own. With the storm’s momentum at a climax, it was too easy to lose him in this maelstrom.  When he caught up to the old scholar, Ezra found Orin standing next to a broken marble column whose jagged edge had been worn down to a slab by the harsh desert wind.

“Here goes nothing,” Orin declared as he raised the Tablet over his head and prepared to smash it to pieces.

“Inspiring,” Ezra said dryly as the Professor brought down the tablet against the marble.

When the Tablet of Destiny struck the column, it was not the sound of rock against marble that filled their ears but the outraged bellow of a titan from above. Its roar was powerful enough to be heard over the storm and suddenly, Ezra had a feeling Tiamat would be coming for them if they did not conclude this business quickly.  The initial impact did not break the tablet as desired but a crack did fissure the golden words across its surface, interrupting the ritual.

“Keep going!” Ezra shouted.

Bringing down the tablet against the marble again, this time, the fracture became more pronounced, as did the howl from above. Whatever was descending upon them was not at all happy by the assault on the ancient artifact. As if responding to the battery, the hurricane surrounding Eridu became more intense, until Ezra could see objects being swept up into the air, guns, blades, a fluttering length of material that could have been an Erran robe. Overhead, the silver-speckled beast, Ezra now thought looked like a dragon was about to swoop down on them like a bird of prey.

Suddenly, through the swirling sand, Ezra saw Josiah being hurled through the air. The former preacher landed a few feet from him, groaning in pain as he landed on his side, before rolling onto his back after the hard impact.

“JOSIAH!” Ezra hurried to his side.

“Whatever you’re going to do, you better do it fast!” Josiah grunted certain something had cracked when he hit the ground.

“What do you...”

He had no sooner spoken when he saw Alexandra Styles emerging through the dust. She appeared almost on fire, the inscriptions on her skin were glowing so brightly as if flames were bursting through the flesh.  Walking past them, she was striding towards Orin, her fists clenched with an expression on her face that promised nothing less than menace. Without understanding how he was so certain, Ezra knew it was not Alex about to confront the Professor but Tiamat.

Jumping to his feet, Ezra knew he had to intercept her before she reached the older man and stopped him from continuing his assault on the tablet.   Sprinting towards her, he reached out to grab her when she lashed out her arm and struck him across the face before he was able to get close enough.

Orin saw Tiamat closing in and knew he was out of time. If the Tablet wasn’t destroyed now, the goddess, using Alexandra’s body was going to kill him. That she was able to assume this much control on her future vessel without actually taking complete possession of Will’s daughter, told him how close she was to achieving her goal. It was now or never. Mustering all the strength he had inside of him and praying Will and the others were with him, Orin Travis raised the Tablet of Destiny into the air above his head one last time. 

The tablet smashed against the marble column as if it had dropped from a great height. The sound was like a crack of thunder eclipsing the chaos around them. Orin felt the artifact crumble beneath his fingers as the tablet split in half first and with that one crippling fracture, created fault lines of weakness across the rest of the slab that gave way immediately.  Chunks of rock crumbled about his feet and with its destruction, a scream tore through the air.

It did not come from Alex but from whatever it was above them. The wraithlike beast that had been only seconds away from them, reared its serpentine head and opened its jaws to utter a  final roar of fury and indignation before it lost cohesion completely. Returning to a formless, silver shower, it was soon drawn towards the vortex from which it had emerged, to begin with. As it retreated, it dragged with it, the canopy of the grey clouds blanketing the sky with darkness.  As if howling in protest, thunder boomed impotently before it and the roaring wind faded into nothingness.

The peace that descended lasted only a second before the ground started quaking.

*****

Chris Larabee wished he had a slingshot.

Maybe if he had one, taking down this Goliath in front of him might be a little less painful.  The giant who served Adashir Shah so loyally even now was putting one hell of a fight, even though Chris had put a bullet into his shoulder. He’d managed to use Vin who was still attached to the back of him like a man riding a wild stallion, to knock the gun over his hand and forced Chris to go after him hand to hand, even though his leg hurt like hell after the son of a bitch managed to stick him in the thigh with a knife.

Still despite the pain in his leg and Vin’s arm locked around the Erran’s throat,  refusing to be thrown off no matter how hard the man fought, the leader of the seven was able to act. Fortunately, the blade had penetrated the fleshy part of his thigh and Chris knew enough about human anatomy to know he was damned lucky the injury wasn’t worse. Despite the man’s dogged determination not to yield, his injured shoulder and the lack of oxygen was making Krestos increasingly incapable of fending off the punches Chris was throwing like a jackhammer.

Despite fighting them both like a demon, Chris knew the man was running out of steam. Vin was holding on for dear life, perfectly aware until this Erran was put down, he could not go after Alex.  Vin was too loyal a creature to leave him to deal with Krestos on his own.  For all their sakes, Chris hoped Orin was able to do what was necessary to help Alex because that spectral image in the sky was awfully close.

Then as if in answer to his prayer, the agonized howl of something terrible shook the air from above. All three men looked up to the sky and saw the silver silhouette disintegrate into a harmless cloud before being sucked into the vortex like poison being drawn from a wound.

“NO!” Krestos cried out in horror, understanding at that moment while he was busy dealing with the two men before him, the rest of these infidels had managed to stop Tiamat’s arrival into the world.  Worse than that, they had managed to send her back to the void.

“Orin’s done it!” Chris shouted at Vin, still wrestling with Krestos.  “It’s over!”

“NEVER!” Krestos screamed and struggled even harder to break free, determined to reach the Amira and gain her counsel as to what was to be done next.  Without the Shah, she now ruled the Erran, what remained of them anyway. The thought no sooner crossed his mind when suddenly, the ground rumbled violently, making both Krestos and the blond infidel stumble.

All three men fell silent for an instant, with Chris recognizing what that tremor meant better than anyone.  He spent enough time in California to know what an earthquake felt like and when a fissure appeared a short distance away from them a second later, he knew they were about to have one now. When the ground shook again, Krestos took advantage of the distraction and flipped Vin over his shoulder, finally wrenching the sharpshooter free.  Chris barely avoided the collision and searched for his gun when another fissure burst out the ground like the blowhole of a whale, spitting out hot gasses.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Krestos bolted away from the two men and Chris decided neither he nor Vin had the time or the inclination to go after him, not when it appeared Tiamat’s banishment back to the netherworld where she had come from, had unforeseen consequences. Limping quickly to Vin, Chris leaned over and grabbed him by the arm, hauling the sharpshooter to his feet.

“Vin! We gotta move! I think this whole place is about to go!”

Vin, shaking the disorientation out of his head, could only think of one thing now he no longer had Krestos to deal with. “We have to get to Alex!”

Both men shifted their gazes to the square, visible now that the storm of sand had disappeared, although they were about to be hit with an equally dangerous calamity.  Alex was lying across the dirt, seemingly unconscious with Ezra and Orin nearby. Vin leapt to his feet and sprinted forward, not waiting for Chris who hobbled after him. As they ran across the ground, more fissures appeared and Chris searched the space for Mary and found her near Buck and Nathan, dealing with JD who looked badly hurt.

Resisting the urge to demand how the boy was, Chris knew such questions could wait. Right now, they had to go out of Eridu fast. 

“EVERYBODY GET MOVING!” Chris bellowed at them. “WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!”

They needed no further prompt than that, already suspecting as much but Chris’s sharp bark got them moving, with Buck and Nathan lifting JD up. Mary met his gaze and quickly saw he was injured.  Once again concerned filled her eyes and she crossed the space towards him, ignoring his order and making Chris wonder if it was possible her entire existence on this Earth was dedicated to ignoring every single thing he said.

“You’re hurt!” She exclaimed in dismay, her eyes fixed on the blood she could see on his pant leg.

“I’ll live!” Chris swore at her in irritation, wanting her to leave with Buck and Nathan. “We’ve gotta get out of the city. I got a feeling now that the Tablet’s gone, it’s going to take Eridu with it.”

As if to prove his point, another eruption of hot gasses was vented through a new fissure in the rock, making Mary squeal in fright, fear crossing her face as she comprehended the danger and promptly grabbed his arm. “We’ll let’s get moving then!”

“I can walk on my own!” He grumbled but had to admit the arm she offered was welcomed because it allowed him to take some weight off his injured leg which was stinging like a son of a bitch.  Of course, hell would freeze over before he admitted this to her.

“Don’t be such a baby!” Mary retorted and started moving forward, ignoring his cursing as she dragged him along.

******

When he reached Alex, he saw Orin leaning over her and for a moment, despite what was happening around them, with geysers of hot air erupting all across the breadth of Eridu and the ground shaking beneath them, he was never more afraid then seeing her lying on the ground unmoving. For one terrible moment, he thought freedom from Tiamat’s possession might mean death and the idea of it was so unimaginable, it made his gut twist in horror and his heart turned to ice in his chest.

“She’s alive Vin!” The Professor stated quickly upon seeing Vin and reading the expression on his face before mercifully giving him the answer he needed before Vin descended into despair. “She’s unconscious, probably exhausted from whatever she just went through.”

Vin’s held breath escaped him in a near gasp as the relief flooded his soul. Bolting forward, he skidded to her knees next to her, to get her out of this place. Alex was lying on her side, her dark hair splayed across her face, oblivious to what was taking place around her. He touched her skin and felt its warmth, taking in the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“Thank you,” he met Orin’s eyes as he slid his arm under her body to pick her up. “Thank you for saving her.”

“No thanks needed, son,” Orin answered. “I could no sooner sacrifice her than I could Mary.  It’s the least I could do for Will.”

 “Well then,” Vin said as he lifted Alex off the ground and saw Ezra helping Josiah to his feet. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Orin couldn't argue with that.  After long last, he was finally done with the Tablet of Destiny. He hoped wherever they were, Hank, Donnie, and Will could, at last, rest easy.

EPILOGUE:
THE NEW NORMAL

TWO WEEKS LATER

It was odd how things could change so radically in such a short time.

As Ezra Standish reflected upon the events of the past month, he had to admit, even for one as adaptable as him, the number of changes had taken some getting used to. Starting from the last time he and his associates occupied their table at Paloma’s to the conclusion of their most recent adventure in Riyadh, it had been a heady number of weeks.  Arriving before his associates to conclude a little bit of business with the new majority owner of Paloma’s, Ezra couldn’t say he was terribly upset at Roberto’s heir preferring to remain a silent partner.

In truth, Ezra’s only reason for wishing to buy the place was to ensure it stayed the same and the new owner promised him any changes would be slight. It was important to everyone; Roberto’s legacy was preserved, and Ezra wholeheartedly agreed.  Sitting at their table waiting for the others to arrive, it would be the first time since their return from abroad they would be sharing a drink together. The place was unusually busy, and Ezra wore a faint smile of amusement since he was privy to why this was the case and wondered how his comrades would react when they found out themselves. 

Glancing at the door, he saw Josiah stepping into the establishment, appearing better recovered from the injury he sustained at Eridu. They managed to leave the place within seconds of it sinking completely into the desert. While Ezra still had difficulty believing in the supernatural forces that wiped the ancient Sumerian city off the face of the Earth, there was no denying what they witnessed. By the time they had reached a safe distance from the ruins, all that remained of Eridu was a huge crater, smoking with clouds of dust and heat.

There was no sign of the Erran. Those who were not killed during the gunfight were presumably swallowed up by the sinking city or fled when Adashir Shah was killed. The fate of Krestos and the Shah’s sister was also a mystery. Mary claimed the woman was alive when the blond left her to find Buck and Nathan, if somewhat unconscious. It did not matter Ezra supposed, whether Aisha Shah escaped Eridu, because if she was alive, Chris Larabee was convinced they would see her again.

Despite all the injuries the seven and their companions sustained, Chris wanted to leave Riyadh immediately. Considering they were at the epicentre of the ancient landmark’s destruction, it was possible they might be held accountable when the authorities came to investigate what took place at Eridu. Besides, Chris suspected and rightly so, the explanation they had thwarted the uncreation of the world by an ancient Sumerian goddess might not be well received by the predominantly Muslim people.

Nathan stabilized JD long enough for them to reach the Darlin’ Millie, where the healer had a fully stock infirmary capable of treating the boy’s injuries during the flight away from Arabia. Even though Chris and Josiah sustained wounds of their own, both men were willing to suffer a little discomfort to aid their hasty departure. Within an hour of arriving at the Darlin’ Millie, the seven were on their way out of the country.

When she finally regained consciousness, Alexandra Styles seemed to suffer no ill effects from her ordeal as Tiamat’s temporary host. She awoke a little dazed but possessing no memory of what happened to her beyond the Shah’s opening performance of the ritual, but everything else that followed was a fog she could not decipher. Under Vin’s behest, no one enlightened her.  It was best to remain one of the many mysteries encountered during this whole affair.

Much like the identity of their mysterious ally who had come to their rescue when things were at their worst. According to Vin, the shot that killed Adashir Shah would have to have been made from at least 800 yards away and while the sniper later was equally skilled, that initial shot was fired by someone who was a formidable marksman. Vin who was capable of taking out targets in the 1000-yard range, was impressed.

It was a mystery that bothered Chris Larabee who hated riddles, however, for now, it was one the leader of the seven would simply have to live with.

“Ezra,” Josiah offered his usual understated greeting when he finally reached the table and sat down. “You’re here early.  Aren’t you the one who’s always saying it’s good to be fashionably late?”

“I am,” Ezra admitted, not at all repentant by it either. “However, on this occasion, I did have business to conduct before our libations tonight.”

“With the new owner,” Josiah nodded in understanding, aware now like the rest of the seven, Ezra had a stake in the place. It didn’t surprise Josiah in the least that Ezra would have secretly bailed out Roberto in a time of crisis. While the gambler professed to being a terrible cynic who would never part with his cash unless it was at gunpoint, Ezra also possessed a core of decency he did not like to reveal to anyone.  “So, are they going to sell you the business?”

“No, they have chosen to retain majority ownership of the establishment,” Ezra said with a sigh as Josiah gestured at one of the regular waiters to bring him his usual order.  “I am not disappointed. To tell the truth, I always preferred being a silent partner. I only invested in the establishment because Roberto needed the capital. I prefer our expeditions as relic hunters to earn my keep rather than playing barkeep.”

“Fair enough,” Josiah remarked as he noticed Vin Tanner and Chris Larabee coming through the door. Other than a slight stiffness in his walk, Josiah noted Chris showed no signs of being injured. “Let’s hope they don’t change things too much. I like the place the way it is.”

“Likewise,” Ezra agreed, raising his glass at Josiah in solidarity.  It coincided with Chris and Vin’s reaching the table. “Mr Larabee, Mr Tanner, I trust you both are well?”

“He’s still an ornery cuss needing me to drive him around, but he’s fine.” Vin threw Chris a smirk, aware of how much their leader hated having to rely on anyone.  Despite their close friendship, getting Chris to admit he needed help was like pulling teeth and the last week had been no exception.

Chris threw Vin a dark look. “Between your woman and Nathan, I thought I’d just give in and spare myself the bitching.”

On the few occasions Alex had been with Vin when the sharpshooter dropped by to check on him, the lady was just as adamant as Nathan that he rest his leg and not exert himself. Despite Krestos blade avoiding anything vital when he was stabbed, it did penetrate muscle and that took time to heal. Resigning himself to the fact that neither of them was going to leave him alone unless he acquiesced, Chris knew when to yield to superior numbers.

“Hey, I can’t help it I landed a doctor,” Vin smiled proudly as both men took up their customary seats at their table, taking note of how busy the place was tonight. It felt like every regular at Paloma’s had found it necessary to be present at the establishment this evening.

 “If my ma were alive, she’d be awful proud.”

“Every boy’s dream,” Josiah chuckled but the happiness in Vin’s eyes at the mention of Alex was unmistakable. It was plain to every member of the seven Vin had fallen very hard for his doctor and it was just as pleasing to them, that the feeling was mutual.  No one who saw their exchange during the ritual of the tablet could deny there wasn’t something very special about Vin’s romance with Alex Styles.

“Will the lovely Miss Styles be joining us this evening?” Ezra asked, thinking this was the new normal he was going to have to get used to, the fact their circle was growing larger with the arrival of Alex Styles and Mary Travis. 

“Yeah,” Vin nodded with obvious pleasure. “She and Mary are on their way. Alex has been staying with the Professor since her Pa’s house burnt down.”

“Bastards,” Chris couldn’t help but hiss at the memory of that.  He still felt angry all of William Styles’s work had been reduced to a fiery pile of ashes. There was no reason for the Erran to torch the place except out of spite.  It gave him some satisfaction knowing the Shah’s head had been blown off without the man ever seeing the Tablet fulfil its purpose.

“It won’t be for long anyway,” the sharpshooter continued. “She’s going to have to head back to school in Pennsylvania on Monday.”

“That’s too bad,” Josiah said noting Vin’s sigh of disappointment at that revelation. Pennsylvania was a long way from New Mexico, almost on the other side of the country.  It was a hell of a distance for two people who were very much in love.

“Yeah,” Vin admitted he was already missing Alex and it would be even worse when she left after the weekend. They had spent almost every day together since their first meeting and though they had not shared each other’s bed yet, there was no denying how intimate their relationship was. Still, he was terribly proud she was a doctor and he took solace in knowing it wasn’t forever. 

“It’s okay though, she’s only got four more months in Pennsylvania and then she’ll be heading back to Albuquerque to do her internship at a hospital here.  She’s also got a two-week vacation coming up, so we’ll make it work.” He said confidently.

“I managed to do it for years,” Chris added, finding it odd that lately it didn’t ache nearly as much to discuss his marriage to Sarah. “Couldn’t always get base housing so Sarah had to stay with her dad while I was stationed somewhere.  You and Alex will be fine.”  He gave the younger man a look of encouragement before making eye contact with a waiter who knew enough about the Larabee glare to never leave the man in black without a drink for long.

“Where are the others?” Vin asked, scanning the room for the rest of their comrades, unable to see them amongst the crowd of people.

“Mr Jackson is going to make a brief detour at Mr Wilmington’s abode to ensure JD is fit enough to join us this evening. It seems he was somewhat skeptical at young Mr Dunne’s insistence to join us.”

Buck had insisted JD stay with him during his recovery since JD’s present address was still the off-campus lodgings he occupied when he had his scholarship. Chris had a feeling it wouldn’t be too long before that empty room in Buck’s apartment was going to be JD’s permanently.  If it were not for that possibility on the horizon, Chris might have made similar overtures to JD who had truly risen to the occasion during this whole business with the Erran.  If nothing else, JD’s injuries had driven home to the rest of the seven just how much he meant to them. 

“There they are now,” Josiah remarked, glancing at the door as the three men stepped through the main doors.

Nathan stepped through first, always drawing the attention of those newcomers to Paloma’s who wondered why a dapper looking black man wasn’t in a fancy jazz club somewhere. Of course, there were those who questioned it for uglier reasons, but they never lasted long in the establishment.  JD followed close behind, moving slowly with Buck hovering next to him in concern.

Even from here, Chris could tell Buck wasn’t entirely happy JD was up and about but knowing JD as well as they did now, the young man would have been determined to be present tonight, despite the fact he wasn’t entirely recovered. At the thought, Chris made a mental note not to rush immediately into their next job to give JD time to recover so he wouldn’t have to sit it out.  It was telling just how much a part of the team JD had become because it felt damned odd to imagine embarking on any new hunt without him.

If asked, none of the others would be able to explain why JD joining them felt as if some cosmic mechanism had fallen into place, as if in the scheme of things, JD would always be one of seven.

*****

“So how have you been fairing Mr Dunne?” Ezra asked once the seven were finally seated and armed with drinks.  There was a rumble of excitement moving through the crowd and although inquiries had been made as to the reason why, Ezra revealed nothing, interested in seeing his friends’ reactions when the unveiling was done.

“He ought to be home resting still,” Nathan grumbled, unhappy the kid was moving around.  JD had sustained kidney damage and even though neither he nor Alex were doctors, they both agreed the wound Aisha inflicted on JD was serious. Unfortunately, there was little to be done to fix such an injury beyond treating the symptoms, which in JD’s case had been blood loss. The kidney could repair itself if the patient had the good sense to rest appropriately.

“Oh, I’m alright Nathan,” JD insisted happily, still chuffed by the fact he was out of Buck’s apartment after days of being a shut-in.  “Besides, if I didn’t get out of Buck’s place, I was going to go stir crazy.  Either that or Buck was going to drive me there,” he added with a playful smirk.

“What did I do?”  Buck looked at him with mock hurt, aware he had probably been a little overprotective in his effort to care for JD. He couldn’t help it, he had a real affection for the boy that bordered on the paternal.  “Except feed you, tucked you in at night, read you bedtime stories and picked up your favourite Dick Tracy funny books. Fine thanks I get...”

“You offered to get me a girl...!” JD pointed out, giving the others a look that spoke volumes about how he felt on that subject. When it came to women, JD was almost as shy as Vin had been before Alex had come along. 

“Rest Buck!” Nathan exclaimed aghast. “Getting him all hot and bothered over a girl or in your case girls, isn’t getting rest.”

“Oh, hey now,” Buck defended himself immediately. “I’ll have you know I did not offer to get him a girl.  This stewardess I know, Jill, well she was in town for a day or two and she had a friend...”

“Nice Buck, nice.” Nathan rolled his eyes in exasperation. “You want to saddle the boy with a stewardess, in his condition? Try him on something with training wheels first.”

“That’s what I told him!”  JD started to say before Nathan’s word sank in. “HEY!”

Deciding to spare JD any further embarrassment by moving the subject somewhere safer, Josiah turned to Chris.  “Any idea what’s next for us?”

Chris took a sip of his whisky and noted the entrance of Mary and Alex through the door, even though he feigned ignorance for the moment. The others would notice them soon enough, but he couldn’t help but wonder how a woman wearing a loose-fitting, silk white shirt and ladies’ slacks could still manage to look stunning. Next to Mary, looking equally lovely was Alex who was dressed in a light summer dress of blue that turned heads as she walked by and approached their table.

“I think we might take a week off,” Chris said casually, not wanting to let on he was doing it for JD’s sake. Knowing the kid, JD would feel guilty and kick up a stink about it.  “I’m going to give up my place in town and move into the ranch.”

“Really Chris?” Buck sat up, a little smile of pleasure on his face. “That’s a great idea. Place been empty for too long.”  

“Yeah,” Chris nodded, not wishing to delve too deeply into the reasons why he had stayed away, telling himself the spread was going to waste and it was somewhere he could get a little peace and quiet. Besides, Sarah hated waste and she wouldn’t want him to let the place stay empty. She would be the first to tell him it was time to get on with life and let the past go. “It’s time.”

Understanding the sensitivity of the subject, the others chose not to question Chris too much on his motivations and were simply glad he was taking a positive step forward. It was almost a relief when they sighted Alex and Mary arriving, giving them the perfect segue to leave the topic behind.

“Hey Darlin’,” Vin greeted sighting Alex who promptly leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

“Hey Cowboy,” she smiled affectionately at him just as Josiah pulled out a chair for her and shifted his chair a little, so she could fit between them. “Hey everyone.” She greeted and then saw JD. “You look better JD.”

“Thanks, Alex, I’m feeling good,” JD said, showing her the glass of Cola he was drinking. In his condition, Nathan would just kill him if he attempted to touch alcohol. “Even if I have to drink this stuff.”

“You need to take care of yourself,” Mary added, recalling how brave the young man had been at Eridu. Even though he had been bleeding like hell, he was determined to save Alex nonetheless.  In Mary’s book, JD deserved all the admiration and encouragement that was owed to him.

“Especially with Buck trying to fix him up with stewardesses,” Nathan threw in, still unable to believe Buck had tried to fix JD up in the condition the young man was in.

“Really?” Alex gasped and promptly leaned over to swat Buck across the shoulder. “What is wrong with you? Is there a switch in your head, set for horndog or something?”

A burst of laughter followed across the table as Buck glared at her with mock dislike. “When are you leaving again?”

“We’ll be heading back East on Monday,” Mary replied from her seat next to Ezra. “Alex and I thought it might be fun to travel back together. I’ve got to get back to New York, one of my contacts gave me a lead they’re about to arrest Lucky Luciano. I intend to be there for that arrest.”

Chris who was in mid swallow just about choked at hearing that revelation.  “The mob guy?”

“It wouldn’t be a story if he was the guy at the pretzel stand, Mr Larabee,” Mary said smoothly, amused by his reaction.

“Are you insane?” He stared at her incredulously. “You could get yourself killed messing around with those sons of bitches.  The next time the Professor hears from you it will be when they fish you out of the East River!”

“Really Mr Larabee,” Mary rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t have a conniption, I’ve done this before. It’s my job.  I know how to keep out of trouble.”

“Evidence so far says otherwise,” he returned just as sharply.

“Well if you would rather me accompany you boys on your next adventure,” she stared at him with a brow raised in clear challenge. “That would be almost a good a story as the one in New York.”

Chris narrowed his gaze and realised he had just been played. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Why not?” Mary protested in exasperation. “I could be an asset!”

“You’re off by two letters...” he growled.

As Chris and Mary launched into another argument, oblivious to their companions at the table, Buck could only stare at the spectacle, shaking his head, trying to remember if Chris’s relationship with Sarah had been this cantankerous. It took him a second to realise it was. 

Frankly, he was amazed they managed to conceive Adam.

“After all these years, he still has no idea how to keep his temper around a woman,” Buck said quietly to the others as the two continued to bicker, lost in their volatile version of foreplay. “Good thing he has me to keep an eye on him since I know how to handle the ladies....”

The strum of a guitar suddenly silenced everyone in the room.

They turned to the bar and suddenly Buck Wilmington realised why it was so busy here tonight. Perched on the edge of the counter, dressed in a white peasant blouse and a flowing red skirt, was one of the most beautiful women Buck had ever seen (and he’d seen quite a few). With wild, tousled hair, adorned with a red flower that might have been a hibiscus, she was the quintessential sultry Latin beauty.  Wearing a smile that was nothing short of dazzling, Buck could only stare mesmerised as she continued to strum the guitar.

“My, my, who is that?” Josiah whispered as she began to play a soft, haunting melody that captured everyone’s undivided attention, managing the impossible by wrenching Chris and Mary out of their argument.

“That is Roberto’s daughter,” Ezra replied just as quietly, a dimpled smile across his face as he listened to her play.  He wondered if she did requests. He always liked Red River Valley...

“That’s Roberto’s daughter?” Nathan exclaimed, unable to imagine grizzled old Roberto, producing such a lovely offspring.

“So that means, she’s the new owner.” Vin declared as the lady started to sing.

“That is correct,” Ezra nodded.

“Aquellos Ojos Verdes

de mirada serena,

dejaron en mi alma,

eterna sed de amar ...

“She’s awful pretty isn’t she Buck?” JD remarked and turned to Buck. “Buck?”

Buck Wilmington was no longer listening. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to get her to go out with him. “I think I know who I’m going home with tonight.”

“Oh God,” Alex groaned, wondering if the man’s ego could get any bigger.   “I think you’re being extremely optimistic.”

“All I gotta do is lay on the charm,” Buck grinned at her cockily. “She’ll be as good as mine. No way she can resist my animal magnetism. You just wait and see.”

******

She knew Lansing from her earliest days in the firm and though her expression remained as always mercurial to those around her, seeing the man who had once been a teacher, lying broken and bruised, surfaced a wave of emotion within her. Brushing her fingertips against the hands that once played the violin like a virtuoso, now crushed like kindling, she felt a swell of hatred for the ones who did this to him.

The harsh light of the morgue concealed nothing and as he lay against the cold slab in the small room, like a side of beef hanging in a meat locker, she was privy to every bruise and every bit of cruelty inflicted upon him. The wounds made the peaceful expression on his face even more profane.  Lansing deserved better than this. For a lifetime of service, he should have ended his days surrounded by his roses, playing lawn bowls in the afternoon and taking tea with Penelope, his wife.

Instead, he was in the morgue of a small police station in Tangiers, having been found floating in a nearby canal, discarded like rubbish. It wasn’t right.

“They tortured him,” Riley stated, though he was certain she knew this already.

“For quite a while and judging by the damage they did, I don’t believe he gave them what they were after.”

“So the item is still in play.”  Riley finally drew the sheet over Lansing’s face.  There was no need to see any more. They had gleaned all they could from the man’s dead husk.

“I believe so,” Julia Pemberton nodded. “They’ve brought in Isabella Krauss, which means Hitler is interested.”

“Why? It’s a bloody relic.”  Riley stared at her bewildered.

“I think recent events have proven relics can have power and Hitler does love those. In any case, an object doesn’t need to have supernatural qualities to have power. I prefer we keep this particular one from the Reich. They have enough of an inflated sense of importance as it is.”

“Can’t disagree with you there Miss,” Riley conceded agreed. “So do we go after this thing ourselves?”  He looked at her dubiously.  Riley had many skills, one of which was being a rather good sniper, but ancient artifacts were not his forte.  

“No,” Julia remarked turning on her heels and heading towards the door. “I think we both know a group of men who are better able to handle this matter for us.”

Riley smiled and answered, “that we do Miss and if I recall, they do owe us a favour.”

THE END

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