Ancient Echoes (45 page)

Devlin helped Jake struggle to his feet. As Jake
despondently looked at the emptiness before them, he muttered, “That’s the
spirit,” in desperate hope that his words would encourage them.

Something caught Brandi’s attention and she lifted her gaze.
She cried out.

A large, winged creature peered down from a rocky ledge,
ready to pounce. Devlin fired. His shot disintegrated its small head. The body
tumbled from the precipice to their feet.

Brandi squealed and backed away as Michael ran with Devlin
to see the creature. It had an eagle’s wings, but a huge badger’s body. Long,
treacherous claws were made of gold.

“We’ve got to get away!” Jake shouted. “The mercs and
villagers will know we’re here now.”

They turned to run, only to see Arnie Tieg and Gus Webber
strutting toward them, crossbows in hand. “We already know you’re here,” Tieg
said. “Drop your weapons! You four can join your friends back at the village.
We have a special get-together arranged for you there.”

o0o

Charlotte ran. Earlier, as soon as she heard Rachel scream,
she assumed it meant Rachel and Quade had been captured. Whether by the mercs
or the villagers, she didn't know, but whoever it was would be looking for her
and Lionel next. Allowing herself to be captured would do no one any good.

She turned off the path they had been following to plunge
into the low-lying briars and leafless, prickly brush that covered the
mountainside. She ran downhill to find shelter, to somehow find Michael and
Jake and warn them what lay ahead. Together they might be able to rescue the
others. She refused to allow herself to imagine that Michael and Jake had been
captured or killed.

Suddenly, the ground turned silty, the rocks loose. The
backpack with the book kept shifting, throwing Charlotte off-balance. After
several slips she found it necessary to keep one hand on the ground, balancing
like a three-legged stool, to avoid rolling down the mountain.

A cold breeze began with small gusts, but soon gathered
strength. She stopped and listened. The desolation around her frightened her.
The wind made the only sound. No triumphant hawk’s cry, no gentle chirps, not
even an owl’s hoot was heard. Something ominous crept near, some essence that
held an unknown terror.

She had no weapon. The wind increased, and brush blew like
straw.

Something darted before her; a blur. She almost convinced
herself that she had imagined it, but then she smelled the creature’s stink,
the scent of decay.
Of death.

o0o

Lionel slowed down Quade and Rachel as they hurried toward the
pillars. Quade was convinced that if any of the others were alive, they would
make their way there. The pillars offered, after all, the only gateway out of
here, the only logical place to go. Rachel agreed, although Quade scared her.
She sensed something about him that felt impure, evil almost. She ached at the
loss of her friends. She even missed Brandi, poor silly Brandi, who once
confessed that she only came on this field trip because she heard Devlin would
be on it. Devlin never gave her a second glance. And he was gone, too. It was
all too much.

Lionel fell.

“Please,” Rachel said, trying to help him up.

He shoved her away. “I’m too tired. Get away from me!”

Anger filled her. Her friends died out here, and this
hot-shot professor was a fraud and a failure.

Quade stepped up to Lionel and without expression clamped
steel-like fingers onto Lionel’s shoulder and lifted. Lionel cried out, but the
look on Quade’s face so frightened him, he quieted and began to walk once more
without comment or complaint.

o0o

Tieg and Webber brandished their crossbows as they moved
toward Michael, Jake, Brandi and Devlin. Gone were the villagers who had given
them a shelter and food. These men were killers.

“Jake’s been shot,” Michael said, turning his back on the
two and winking at Jake. “He can’t walk, can barely stand. He needs help.”

Jake crumpled to the ground on cue. Michael bent over,
acting as if he were trying, but failing, to get Jake to his feet again.

“Leave him!” Tieg ordered, marching forward. “I said, step
back!” He reached out to pull Michael away.

Michael kicked the crossbow from Tieg’s hand and as Tieg
lunged for it, gave an uppercut to his jaw. He spun and kicked Webber in the
stomach. Devlin immediately joined the fight, while Brandi cheered them on,
once hitting Webber’s back with a rock when he stumbled too close to her.
Webber and Tieg soon lay unconscious.

o0o

Charlotte scrambled back up the hillside, away from the
scent of the beasts. As dangerous as the villagers were, the chimeras were
worse. They were killing machines without reason. Her heart pounded and her
legs quivered as she pushed herself beyond endurance. The rocky slope caused
her to slip and fall, bruising her knees and scraping her hands. The wind
kicked up, howling now. She felt like it held her back, blowing dust, grit, and
her own hair over her eyes, making it hard to see.

Up ahead, she heard a low rumbling growl. She stopped. A
bear-like creature stepped into her line of sight. It, too, stopped and stared
at her a long moment before it rose up on its hind legs with an earth-shaking
roar.

She had no way to fight it. She slowly backed away, but
black, intelligent eyes watched her. At any moment, it would charge. She had
seen what such beasts had done to Brian Cutter and Ted Bellows

She refused to pull her gaze from the monster as she slowly
backed away, smelling its musty, thick scent, hearing its heavy, raspy
breathing as it watched her. It rolled its broad shoulders while its massive
head swayed from side to side, readying itself to attack. She wasn’t about to
give up. Not while she had hope. She couldn't outrun the beast. The mountain
was steep, rocky, and dangerous. Loose rocks, earlier, had given way under her
weight, and were even more likely to roll under the weight of the creature if
it tried to follow. There was only one way out.

She plunged down the hill, running, but soon lost her
footing. She fell, slid and rolled, unable to stop herself.

o0o

Michael, Jake, Brandi and Devlin hurried toward the village
because Tieg said the others were held captive there. As they reached the top
of the cliff overlooking the village, Michael saw the mercenaries approach it.
He motioned to the others to drop down and watch.

o0o

Derek Hammill took in the strange, archaic surroundings. He
had learned that the bizarre men of this place were formidable foes. Also,
something had gone wrong with the accuracy of their weapons that had his men
spooked. “Some of them might be hiding here,” he said to his men. “Check the
buildings.”

“No need.” A voice came from back at the gate.

Hammill and his men spun around to see Kohler, Olgerbee and
Durham watching them.

“You will find the buildings quite empty,” Kohler added.

The two leaders each took the measure of the other. “It’s
time to talk,” Derek Hammill shouted.

“Speak your piece,” Kohler invited.

“The woman, Charlotte Reed, is the best bet to get us, all
of us, out of here. She also has, or can get, the book I want. We may need
those friends of hers to force her to cooperate once we find her again.” He eyed
Kohler. “I know you fellows also want to leave this place. Let’s discuss it.
Maybe join forces.”

Kohler shook his head indicating he had no interest in
talking.

“Wait, listen to them! Let’s work with them to find the
woman and her friends. We need them!” Olgerbee’s voice rang out. “You know we
can't do this on our own. We've tried everything over the years. Everything we
could think of and then some! Time and again we've walked eastward until the
soles of our shoes wore away, and instead of finding a big East coast city,
we've only seen more empty land. The Atlantic itself was devoid of shipping.
Then, when we turned back, in two days we were at the pillars! The same
happened
when we went west or south, even north.” He fought
his growing fury. “Always, always, we returned to the pillars.
The gateway.
We couldn't escape them!”

“We’ve tried other means as well, ungodly, demonic means,
using the book,” Will Durham said. “But nothing worked.”

“Let Charlotte Reed live, and whoever else she needs to help
her,” Olgerbee cried. “Let her continue studying the book. It could mean
freedom for all of us!”

“He's right,” Hammill said. “We want the same thing. We
don't have to fight.”

“You say that pointing your weapons at us?” Kohler asked.
“And look, we are unarmed.” He opened his arms wide.

Hammill and his two men lowered their weapons. At that
moment, Kohler shouted,
“Now!”
as he, Olgerbee, and Durham dove for
cover.

Distant arrows flew at the mercenaries from behind them.
Three of the villagers had snuck in the back gate while Kohler kept the
mercenaries' attention. But this time the mercenaries were ready for the speed
and cunning of the villagers. At Kohler's shout, they hurled themselves out of
the walkway, using the buildings for shelter and firing back in both directions.

The villagers released their arrows with incredible speed,
but arrows were nothing against rifles.

o0o

Michael nodded at the others who had watched the battle with
him. All of them felt confident they had seen the last of the village men. Also,
they knew the others weren’t captives in the village, but were out in the
wilderness somewhere.

They could only think of one place where they might be
going.

“THE PILLARS,” QUADE said as he
looked at the sight
in the distance
. “We've made
it.”

Lionel and Rachel nearly cried with relief, emotionally and
physically exhausted. They feared going closer to them, however. They feared
leaving the heavily forested area that provided them some protection from the
mercenaries, who most likely waited nearby for them.

“Do you see the lights?” Quade asked Lionel, as cold and
sanguine as ever.

“Yes, but I don’t know what they’re telling me!” Lionel
cried.

“We need to get closer,” Quade said.

“But we’ll be exposed! Please, let’s just wait here for the
others. They've got to come here; this is the only logical place for them.”
Lionel dropped to one knee, head bowed and chest heaving.

Rachel took Lionel’s arm and tried to pull him to his feet.
“Let me help you,” she said. He resisted.

Quade nodded at her, surprised by her courage.

“Please, Professor Rempart,” she pleaded, “won’t you try?”

Lionel acquiesced and slowly stood. He and Rachel held each
other as they walked toward the mound. Both blinked back tears as they listened
for the sound of a rifle shot or the whistle of an arrow. They knew each step
could be their last.

Michael ran from the brush towards them.
“Stop!
Don’t go out there.” He relieved Rachel of Lionel.
“The
mercs will soon be at the pillars. We’ll have to be ready to face them.”

He led them back to the sheltered area where Jake, Devlin
and Brandi waited.

“Devlin!
You’re alive!” Rachel
cried. To her surprise he opened his arms wide. She ran into them and he lifted
her off the ground, hugging her just as tight as she did him.

“Me, too!”
Brandi said and joined
the hug.

“Wait!” Jake limped toward them. “Where’s Charlotte?”

“We don’t know,” Rachel said. “The villagers caught us, but
she managed to get away. We haven’t seen her since.”

He stopped short at the news, his face ashen.

Michael spotted a glint of light, sun bouncing off of metal,
in the distance.
“Down, everyone!”
He shot toward the
light.

Jake flung himself backwards and felt a bullet pass by,
missing him by inches. He saw one of the mercenaries duck behind a boulder.
“I’ll be damned,” he muttered. “The mercs are already here!”

Michael, Jake, and Devlin fired the HK-91s, thankful for the
powerful weapons they'd found, weapons that provided their only chance of
survival.
Still, the mercs were not only well-armed,
but well-trained. Michael and the others were forced to move back, away from
the pillars, deeper and deeper into the forest.

“Toss one of those rifles over here, Sheriff.”

Jake spun around with a prayer of thanks at the familiar
voice. Charlotte hid behind an outcrop. He saw the relieved smile on her face
as she looked at him.

He crawled to her, gave her one of the rifles, and a
30-round magazine. She was bruised, with dirt and scrapes on her hands, face,
and clothes, and even her hair was full of leaves and brush, but he thought she
had never looked more beautiful.

“You’re wounded!” she cried.

“I’ll be fine.” He started to show
her how to release the safeties when she shook her head, and said simply,
“Homeland Security training.”

She joined the fight.

They were forced to run, and at
one point found themselves slipping and sliding down into a low-lying dry creek
bed. They hid among the trees and shrubs near the creek as the mercs
approached. At one point, the mercs were momentarily exposed.

Only three were left—a surprising
and heartening discovery.

Michael circled around as the
others held off the mercenaries with steady bursts of gunfire. He quic
kly
became aware of the direction of the person giving orders, the one they needed
to take out. With their leader gone the others might be less inclined to fight.

He made his way behind Hammill. He positioned the gun to
shoot just as gunfire from two other directions pinned him down. The mercs were
protecting their leader. He spun and fired, even though he knew that would
leave Hammill free to shoot him. A head shot stopped the one with a black
mustache and goatee circling thick, purple lips.