CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN (76 page)

“I believe I already told you. I’ve just come to make sure you are not late. The Queen Moon is in the sky. It is time for you and your companion to leave this place.”

“I have to make them stop fighting,” Aavi said. “If I go, will they?”

         
The Oracle nodded. “Yes. See, you already know what you have to do. The beast is outside waiting for you. These halls will lead you out. Follow the water.”

Aavi glanced away down the hallway. She saw that the Oracle’s pool was not the only water on the floor. When she looked back at the Oracle’s pool only seconds later, she could no longer see anything in it. Dismayed, for she had so many more questions, she called for the Oracle to return. The pool was just a puddle now. Aavi took a deep breath and took the next steps of her journey.

She recognized the hallway she was now in. D’Molay had taken her this way when they had gone to visit the beast. Within a minute of walking, Aavi was ankle deep in cool, dark water. The passage walls were wet all the way to the ceiling, indicating a complete flood had struck there. But the waters had retreated, leaving the moist smell of wet earth hanging in the air. The only sounds were the dripping and splashes of droplets falling from the ceiling and the echoes of battle somewhere off in the distance. By the time she neared the chamber where the beast had been caged, the water was above her knees. Carefully, Aavi continued forward. What she saw left her crestfallen. The iron-barred cage was broken open on one side, the metal bars twisted and bent. Aavi approached, resting her hands on the bars for support as she peered inside. The cell looked completely empty, but to be sure she waded inside. The beast was definitely gone. Aavi turned back in despair. Then she saw where the beast had gone, through a huge hole in a wall facing the broken cage.

Aavi waded out of the cell and climbed over the rocky debris. Unlike the halls beneath the fort or underground lair of the dryads, the tunnel that led beyond the hole was dug out haphazardly. She ran her hand along deep marks that had been cut into the rock. These must have been made by the beast’s claws! Aavi was sure now that she was going the right way. A small smile broke across her face. She was being a tracker, like D’Molay.

Mud oozed over her sandals and between her toes as the tunnel angled upward. As always, the mud and dirt quickly vanished from her skin, leaving only her dress and shoes stained and wet. Looking up, she could see the night sky where the tunnel breached the surface.
 
Aavi began to hear the screams of men and the clanging of metal against metal. She wondered if the beast was up there fighting. Aavi remembered the fearsome tale D’Molay had told her about the destruction it had wrought. She was afraid, but continued to climb, unable to turn back from her mission to see the beast again.

Aavi cautiously stepped out of the tunnel. Even though it was night, the light of the full moon cast a blue glow on the land. She could see large groups of men and creatures that were almost men fighting on the open plain before her. Just in front of her, the ripped and scattered corpses of a dozen Greeks and Mayans lay like discarded, broken dolls. Pieces of bodies and gore lay strewn on the grass just by her feet. Aavi recoiled, almost dashing back into the tunnel, but was frozen by a nauseous twisting in her stomach that made her retch and vomit unto the ground. Breaking out in a sweat and closing her eyes, she begged for the knotted feeling in her gut to stop. The sickness passed and she opened her eyes again, this time keeping her view well above the horrifying sights near her feet.

Behind her rose the tall stone walls of the fortress which until now had kept her safely away from the carnage. Aavi tried not to stare at the many bodies heaped at the base of the wall. They were strange creatures with heads of lizards.
 
Perhaps because of this, the sight of them did not affect her as badly. On the ramparts above, she could see men still fighting the creatures. One of the lizard things fell off the wall joining those in the pile below. The sight of yet another death convinced her she was right to have come this far. She had to stop this. She had to find the beast and somehow take it far away from here.

*
       
*
       
*

“Keep firing! Keep firing!” Kastor’s voice rang out confidently, but he feared his encouragement was futile. Many of his defenders had been killed. The rest were barely hanging on, facing a constant onslaught of crocodilians. D’Molay fought near Kastor and Tycho, giving them cover while one fired arrows and the other fired orders. A crocodilian charged D’Molay as he managed to kick another over the wall. The jaws of the new attacker snapped at him. He lurched back to avoid having his face torn off, then ducked low, swinging hard with his knife, striking the thing’s legs. It roared in pain, but before it could counterattack an arrow plunged deep into its eye socket. D’Molay looked over and nodded thanks to Tycho as the crocodilian fell dead.

Sheathing his knife, D’Molay picked up his quiver and once again took aim. Down below he saw a new group of crocodilians clambering over the pile of bodies and starting to climb up the wall. As the wail of a war horn cut through the din of battle, the enemy stopped climbing. They reversed course to return to the open battlefield. Kastor voiced the question all were asking.

“Where are they going?”
 

“Maybe they’re giving up,” Tycho said as he shot one in the back. More than one Greek silently thanked Ares for whatever had caused the creatures to retreat. Any hopes that their respite would be long were smashed when Kastor spotted the reason for it.

“What the hell is that? The beast! It’s escaped!” Kastor cried out in surprise.

D’Molay stood mutely next to Kastor, too stunned to say anything at the news. The beast was ruthlessly attacking the forces on the field. The beast ran towards groups of Mayans and Greeks, killing and thrashing them as it leaped forward. By the glow of the full moon, D’Molay could see the bodies of men flying in air as it attacked. It seemed to ignore the crocodilians, but they followed it en masse.

“That explains where Set’s forces are going,” Kastor said. “They’re trying to catch the damned thing.”

The moonlight revealed a hole that had been torn in the ground. It was about forty feet from the fortress wall. “I think I know how it got out,” D’Molay said.
 

Tycho passed a vessel of water to D’Molay and he drank deeply. As it was passed back, Tycho gave him a mildly annoyed look. “You bled all over it, Tracker. Go bind up your hand.”

D’Molay held up his hand and saw that it had indeed been slashed. Cursing mildly, he went to a chest of supplies and began to wrap his wound with the bandages stored there. Several other men did the same, dividing the store of medicines between them. In the precious moments of calm, they began to share stories of their personal combats. D’Molay listened in silence, too worried about the escape of the beast to join the conversation.
 

“Ares called up forces I haven’t seen since Troy,” one archer said. “Did you see the berserkers from Tartarus? And those giants! I swear one almost stepped on the Spartans.”

Tycho turned from the ramparts to comment. “I wouldn’t be surprised at any sight today. There’s a woman chasing the beast right now.”

D’Molay put a roll of bandages back in the chest, spurred by Tycho’s observation to comment. “I saw plenty of women out there. Amazons, Mayan warrior-queens, maybe even a goddess or two.”
 

“I hope that’s what this one is, for her sake. She doesn’t look very special to me.”

D’Molay rejoined Tycho who pointed out the woman he was watching. Near the hole, D’Molay saw the figure in a dress running across in the same direction as the beast. A heavy feeling of dread gripped his entire body as he realized who it was “My god - that’s Aavi!”
 

“Who?” Tycho asked.

“That’s Aavi, the girl Set is after! I have to get down to her!
 
We have to get her out of there!”

“That’s Aavi?” Tycho repeated loudly, causing the rest of the men to rush to the edge of the wall for a look.

“Yes! Get me a rope!” While the others continued to gawk, D’Molay spotted a coil by the chest and grabbed it. He fervently started to wrap it around his waist. “Someone take this end, and tie it off!”

“What are you doing?”
 
Kastor tentatively took up the free end of the rope.

“I’m going down the wall. If she stays out there, either Set will get her or she’ll be killed,” D’Molay said as he finished securing the rope to his body.

“You’re crazy, but we’ll try to cover you from up here.” Kastor said as secured the rope to the ramparts and handed D’Molay the slack. D’Molay jumped on the top of the wall and positioned himself to go down. “May the blessings of Zeus be with you, my friend!” Kastor called as D’Molay disappeared over the edge. “Men, over here.
 
Bring your bows!”

D’Molay rappelled down the wall. Arrows whizzed over his head as Kastor’s men cleared the way for him. Driven by the need to save Aavi, he dropped down the wall much faster than was prudent.
 
His feet slipped more than once, but he managed to keep his balance and came to rest atop the bodies of several dead crocodilians. As he began to untether himself, one of the bodies in the pile suddenly lurched to life, snapping at him with its sharp-toothed jaw and seizing his left leg. D’Molay felt tremendous pain as teeth dug into him. He screamed and fumbled for his knife. His guardians on the ramparts came quickly to his aid. Several arrows pierced the creature’s back and it fell into the pile of bodies, dragging D’Molay with it. He floundered among the crocodilian dead until he managed to get hold of his knife to pry open the jaw that imprisoned his leg. He shoved the dead creature away hatefully. It rolled onto its back, its strange dead eyes staring up at the moon.

D’Molay dragged himself away from the pile. His leg was covered in blood flowing from multiple puncture wounds. Skin hung loose in shredded strips from several places.
 
Despite this, he struggled to his feet, searching for Aavi. He spotted the flip of her hair in the moonlight as she ran towards the beast in the distance.
 
He also saw several crocodilians in pursuit of her.
 
He tried to take off at a run, but the best he could manage was a half-limp, half jog forward. Within a few seconds he saw one of the crocodilians pursuing Aavi drop to the ground with an arrow in its back. His friends on the ramparts were still with him. Kastor’s men reduced the number in pursuit of Aavi to but two. Yet as Aavi, the crocodilians and D’Molay moved further ahead, their arrows began to fall short of their intended targets. They were getting out of range. D’Molay knew the rest was up to him.

Taking his bow off his back, he notched an arrow and took aim. His injured leg was shaking and he noticed that his aim was wavering a little. Remembering some of the tips Sophia had given him, he took in a deep breath, focused and let loose. The arrow flew through the air and missed his target, flying past the last two crocodilians and hitting the ground not far from Aavi, who continued running towards the beast, oblivious to D’Molay’s presence. D’Molay notched another arrow and fired again. This time the arrow hit the crocodilian nearest Aavi in the leg and it fell on its knees. As it started to get up again, D’Molay followed with another arrow, hitting it square in the back. As it fell to the ground, D’Molay rejoiced as his next arrow struck true in the back of the remaining crocodilian’s head.

Slinging his quiver over his shoulder and carrying his bow in one hand and his knife in the other, D’Molay limped as quickly as he could towards Aavi, who was getting further away by the second. On the way, he slew a stray Mayan warrior with a quick slash with his knife, surprising the man as he dared to look in Aavi’s direction. Then his worst fears were realized as he saw Aavi fall to the ground.
 

Despite the pain, he managed to jog forward faster, praying that she was still alive. He fixed his eyes on her, trying to determine how badly she had been hurt. Relief washed over him as she got up. Apparently she had merely tripped. Undeterred by the tumble, she began to make her way forward again.

“Aavi! Aavi! Stop!” he yelled as loud as he could, but the noise of the battle seemed to swallow his voice. He forced himself to keep moving. His vision started to tunnel from the pain, but he was closing in on her. When he was less than fifty feet away, she fell again, this time from the impact of an arrow in her thigh. D’Molay rushed forward, dropping to a crawl to close the last of the distance as two more arrows struck the ground between them. Another arrow hit him in calf, but he ignored it and kept moving towards her.