Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods (20 page)

             
He stopped.  “Yeah?”  

             
“Good luck.  Maybe we’ll fight together some day.” 

             
He smiled.  “I can think of no one better to watch my back.” 

Chapter Thirteen: Questing

             
The boy’s father was ill. 

             
Jae-Hoon stood and watched.  It was the same last night.  It would be the same tomorrow.  Mother was gone.  His brothers killed in the war.  He was alone.  Just him and his father. 

             
Soon to be just him.

             
He turned for help.  Two draugr sat at his kitchen table, eating cheese. 

             
“Call a doctor!  He needs a doctor!” 

             
One of the draugr turned around in his chair.  “Do it yourself.  We’re busy,” it said.  They lifted glasses of wine and drank, spilling it all over the table. 

             
He froze.  They weren’t going to help!  Father might die! 

             
The door burst open and a man in white robes walked in.  “Are you a doctor?” asked the small boy. 

             
“Yes,” said the man.  He held up a bag with a red cross to prove his point.

             
Jae-Hoon turned back to the draugr, who were now Charlie and Zeke.  “Take that!” he shouted at the half-monsters.  “I have a doctor anyway!” 

             
“You father is still going to die,” said the Zeke-draugr, lifting up a single, sword-shaped claw.  He pointed at the dying man. 

             
The doctor opened his bag and pulled out a bottle of oil.  Dripping the oil on his thumb, he drew a cross on the sick man’s forehead.  “In nominis patrii, et filii, et spiritus sanctus,” he said. 

             
“I thought you were a doctor,” Jae-Hoon pleaded.  “Save him!” 

             
The doctor’s white clothes were now dark black.  He wore the collar of a Catholic priest.  “This will save him.”  He took out a small piece of bread.  “Hoc est corpus meum.” 

             
Somewhere in the back of his unconscious mind, he recognized this ritual.  The knowledge that he was a priest cut into the vision.  But this didn’t make sense.  “You’re doing it wrong.  You’re doing communion now.”

             
His father sat up in bed.  “It’s important to get as many sacraments as you can.  Be close to God.” 

             
“But that won’t save you!”  he shouted at his father.  “This will!”  He turned.  There was a gun in his hand.  He pulled the trigger and the Charlie-draugr exploded. 

             
“Look what you did,” said the priest.  “Your father only had two sacraments.  Now he’s dead.  Probably in Hell.”

             
Jae-Hoon turned back to his father.  He was still.  Lifeless.  “What?  No!”  Fear crept through him.  It emanated from him and devoured him. 

             
“He wants you to join the church.  You need to be close to God.  You need to find His love,” said the doctor-priest.

             
Yes.  It made sense. God had the power to save him when no one else could.  He wanted love.  He wanted to love God.  “How?”

             
“Join the Church.  The Theocracy will give you God.  All you have to do is climb.”

             
“Climb?” 

             
“Climb.” 

             
So he climbed.  He understood that he must learn all religions, not just his own.  That was the law of the Theocracy.  So he climbed. 

             
He was in a valley in the Bukhansan mountains.  Tired, sweating.  He had climbed.  And here was the monastery.  He would now learn from the Buddhists.

             
He would become closer to God by learning their philosophy. 

A draugr with a shaved head came to him. 
“Put your things down,” he said.  “Buddhists aren’t materialists.”  Jae-Hoon was carrying twelve packs, each filled with cake.  He didn’t need them, so he started throwing them into the woods below him.  When he ran out of packs, he threw in his clothes, too. 

“
Good,” said the draugr-monk.  “Come with me.”  He led the young boy to a room where a man sat at a computer. 

“
It’s a new game,” said the man.  “You play as an army.  You fight monsters.  Wanna play?” 

“
But I had to throw my clothes into the valley!  Why do you get a computer!”  Jae-Hoon shouted. 

“
Relax,” said the draugr-monk.  “The war is over.” 

“
And the Church?” 

“
There is no more Church,” said a voice.  He turned to see a man in a mirror, dressed like a general.  Jae-Hoon was scared.  The soldiers killed God.  What could he do now?  How could he find Him without the Church? 

“
What happened to God?” 

“
You killed him,” said the man in the mirror, who was now a dead draugr.  There was a spike in Jae-Hoon’s hand.  He threw this into the mirror.  “You can’t find him.  He’s dead.” 

“
There’s another Church,” said the computer-monk. 

“
Then that’s what I need,” said Jae-Hoon.

“
But it’s the wrong one,” said the dead draugr.  “Do you want to betray your God with the Armageddonists?” 

“
You already killed him,” said the computer-monk.  “It doesn’t matter now.”

“
You’ll be okay,” pleaded the draugr in the mirror, who had come back to life.  “Just wake up.” 

“
Wake up,” said the computer monk, who was now dressed like the Supervisor.  “Jae-Hoon . . .”

“
Wake up!  It’s okay!” Dumah pleaded, bringing him back to consciousness. 

Jae-Hoon screamed then gasped for air. 

The dream reeled through his head.  He sat there for a moment, his heart racing, trying to pick the reality out of the surreal.  His father’s dying wish that he find God.  Joining the Church to fulfill that wish.  Being required to study Buddhism, only to find the monks using computers and playing war games.  The end of the war and the distraught feeling that God was lost to him with the downfall of the church. 

And the draugr. 

Killing all those draugr.  All those people . . .

“
It’s okay,” shouted Dumah again.  Jae-Hoon realized he was making noises. How long had it been?  He was in jail.  Why?  He sat and thought.  The mission.  The Karellan’s laboratory. 

The draugr.  Killing all those people. 

He let out a disparaging cry.  He heard his voice.  He understood the sound.  It was the first time in nearly two weeks.  “The laboratory,” he said.  His voice felt thick, his throat wet and full of phlegm.  He hadn’t spoken words since that night.  “What you wanted me to see . . .  it was . . .”

Dumah put a hand to his mouth to stop him. 
“Shh.  Not here.”  He helped Jae-Hoon to his feet.  “You are correct.  Now it’s time to atone.  Together.” 

              Traveling west of Nifelheim was difficult.  There were two choices when traveling on foot.  They could either climb through the rocky terrain of broken roads or feel their way through tall grasses and dense bushes.  Neither one had been properly maintained since the draugr appeared. 

             
Considering the ever present danger of draugr, Zeke thought it best to stay out of the tall grass.  The road was difficult to travel, even for a strong person, but it was safer than walking blind. 

             
He was worried, though, that Ariel may not make it.  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he kept asking as he carefully guided her around the rocks.

             
She smiled.  “You’re very sweet, but I told you I’m getting stronger.”

             
“It’s okay if you need help,” he offered. 

             
“It’s been ten years since I was hurt.  I think I can handle walking by now.”  To prove her point, she broke free of his grip and took several steps on her own.  “I’m a little tired, but I made it this far, didn’t I?” 

             
Zeke looked back.  Only the shadow of upper Nifelheim was visible in the distance.  They had made progress, but they still had far to go.  They needed to be completely out of sight of the city to safely board an illegal transport ship. 

             
He looked ahead.  Nothing but wilderness.  He could handle himself, but if draugr attacked, could he protect Ariel?  “You brought the gun, right?”  Before they left, he had searched Charlie’s house and picked out a small 9mm pistol for her.  She was a good shot, but her derringers wouldn’t be enough.  Not if they were attacked by draugr.  But he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

             
Could she even handle herself, knowing they were humans? 

             
Yes
, he decided.  She had been a soldier, just like him.  She had killed men before.  Men who tried to attack her.  It had been ages, but she knew how to stay alive. 

             
“It’s right here,” she said, patting a small bulge under her coat. 

             
“Good.” 

             
“So why are we going to Rome?” she called over her shoulder.  She leapt from rock to rock. Harshly. Ungracefully.  Each time Zeke thought she would fall, but she never did. 

             
“Daniel said there’s something there.  Someone who might help me fight the Karellan.”

             
She stared back, not believing him.  “You may have fooled the others, but not me.  You didn’t just
decide
to fight.  Why are we really going to Rome?” 

             
He hesitated.  Had he been lying to the others?  They had all wanted him to fight.  It was natural that they’d stop asking questions once he agreed to help.

             
Ariel was different. 

             
“I had a dream, too.” 

             
“About Micah?” she asked hopefully. 

             
“Yeah.  We were in Rome.”  Zeke dashed lightly, catching up to her.

             
“I knew it!”  She sounded excited.  Youthful.  “I just feel like he’s going to come back.  Soon.”

             
“But there’s more. It felt like something was
showing
me the dream.  Like there was something I was supposed to see.  Something I needed to learn.”  As an afterthought, he added, “And the Karellan has the book.” 

             
“What book?” 

             
Zeke’s eyes widened, trying to tell her without words.  “You know. 
The
book.  The one from Rome.  The Book of Razael.” 

             
She lost her balance and nearly fell.  “What?  How?  Wasn’t that lost with the city?” 

             
He reached out his hand to steady her.  “Daniel says the Karellan visits Rome all the time.  He must have found it there.”

             
“So what does it mean?” 

             
“It means our mission may not be over.”

             
The sound of an airship engine blasted in their ears.  The grass at the side of the road began to blow.  They looked up.  A large, blocky ship floated overhead.  It awkwardly floated to one side and set down in the grass by the road. 

             
A door popped open and two men jumped out.  “You made it,” said Daniel.

             
“Are you crazy, gunboy?”  He pointed at the city.  “They could see us.” 

             
“That’s all right.  We’re not staying long.  This is our pilot.”

             
The second man stepped forward and offered his hand.  “Name’s Jack.  You must be our passenger.”  He was slightly shorter than Zeke, with short brown hair.  The pilot was dressed in clothes that had once been nice, but were ruffled and uncared for.  Above these, he wore a leather bomber jacket. Zeke shook his hand reluctantly.

             
He turned to introduce himself to Ariel.  She ignored him and stared at his ship.   “We’re flying in
that
?” 

             
Either Jack ignored the extreme doubt in her voice, or he didn’t notice it.  “Sure is,” he said affectionately.  “I call her Quetzalcoatl.” 

             
“We’re going to Rome in
this?”
asked Zeke.  He stared at the ship.  It must have been a ship.  There were no wings, so it wasn’t a plane.  But other than that, it didn’t resemble anything he knew was capable of flight.  It didn’t resemble much of anything at all.  It looked like a large metal box with one end raised up.