Into the Valley Read online

  Chapter V

  Sword in one hand and globe held out in front of him with the other, Aurelian raced through the tunnel following the upward sloping ground, ending when he charged into a chamber where the ceiling rose beyond the globe’s halo. The air clotted in his mouth and caused him to gag, but through the stench, Aurelian felt the movement of air coming from the far end of the chamber.

  Unseen bodies rustled above him, and when he held up the globe, innumerable eyes glinted down on him like stars. Aurelian raised his blade as a bat flitted through his circle of light then dissolved into the dark.

  He crossed the cathedral-like chamber hoping to find the continuation of the passage when the chatter of the creatures on the ceiling increased as did their movement. Aurelian doused the globe beneath his shirt intending to settle the bats, but one of them brushed past his cheek and then another grazed his back. There was a pause, three heartbeats of silence, followed by a thunderclap of beating wings dropping down about him.

  Aurelian was swarmed and held out the globe, but the creature’s black-furred bodies absorbed the light as they churned about him, wings snapping as they twisted and clawed hands stinging his skin as they passed. Aurelian shielded his eyes with his arm and trudged through the gale of bodies, but when he slipped one of the creatures knocked the globe from his grasp. He crawled face down, groping through the piles of waste until he recovered the light.

  When he lifted up the globe, a chill stroked his spine at the sight of a form flapping about the cave chasing the fleeing bats about the rim of light. It was larger than a horse, sailing about on wings of translucent membrane in contrast to its limbless torso which was whiter than bleached bone. At the end of its eyeless, head tentacles surrounded a circular mouth and lashed out at the swirling bats, striking some to the ground while snaring others and pulling them into the toothed maw.

  Aurelian froze as the last of the fear-maddened bats fled the chamber and the winged monstrosity slouched to the ground. Locked in place, Aurelian tightened his arthritic grip around the sword ready to drive it into the horror.

  The beast undulated over the cave floor sweeping its head from side to side as it combed the ground with its tentacles. When it would find an injured bat, the tentacle lifted it to its mouth while continuing to search with the others. The creature turned towards a cluster of fluttering shape on the ground, affording Aurelian the opportunity to scan the room for the exit, but once distracted, he failed to see the monster change direction until the grind of soil displacing about its body alerted him to its presence.

  Back and forth its head raked the chamber floor until it fell within the glimmer of Aurelian’s light, allowing him to see its serrated teeth clumped with flesh and fur. He sought a place to drive his blade as one of the tentacles brushed his boot, but before he pierced it, a din from the far end of the cave caused the creature to recede into a cavity.

  Three minotaur carrying lanterns barreled into the cave, spotted Aurelian’s light, and barreled towards him shouting unintelligible cries. Before they reached the center of the chamber, the beast glided out of the dark and struck one of the bull-men from behind. Cracking echoed off the walls as the creature pinned its victim and yanked at his limbs and bit at his face.

  It disengaged from the still body as the other two engaged their ambusher, but the cave wyrm’s strength was equal to its size and evaded the minotaur’s blows despite its blindness. The wyrm tripped one of the minotaur and moved closer. In the oblong light cast from their fallen lanterns, the minotaur on the ground raised his hand in defense and met the saw-toothed mouth. Spraying blood ran down the wyrm in streaks as the minotaur pulled the stump back, but before the creature could silence his screams, the third minotaur charged. The wyrm raised itself up, extending its wings, and darted its head forward. A tentacle wrapped around a horn of the attacking minotaur and wrenched the brute’s neck producing a sickening snap.

  It had no sooner released the limp body and lowered itself to the ground when Aurelian pounced on its back, wrapping his legs around its mid section, and stabbed the blade between the wyrm’s wings. Safe from the tentacles flailing around him, he repeatedly punctured the beast until a jerk to the side caused the sword to fly free, but Aurelian continued to ravage the creature with his bare hands.

  Blood poured from its wounds and torn portions of wing making Aurelian’s hold slick when the wyrm lunged forward and broke their embrace, launching Aurelian into the air. He crashed against one of the slain minotaur and tried to prop himself on an elbow, waiting for the gnashing of teeth against his skin, but instead the wyrm lurched off the ground and wriggled though a crevice, disappearing from sight.

  Aurelian limped into the spilled circles of light where the surviving minotaur attempted to bandage its severed limb. They measured each other for a moment then Aurelian collected his sword and globe. As he headed away, One-Hand said, “I will return and say the creature killed you, should I be asked.”

  Aurelian nodded.

  “A warning though,” said the other, his voice trembling. “You’ve denied Lord Abraham his immortality, and he had forgotten what it is to fear death. He will not so easily forget you.”

  “So be it.”

  Aurelian discovered an exit after a brief search and left the chamber without sparing a glance behind him. He reached a fork, noticed the ground continued its upward slant in the passage to his left, and followed it. The trail seemed endless, rising and rising, until finally he came to stairs cut into the rock.

  Aurelian sprang up the steps, turned a bend, and came into a room reminding him of the Celestial Basilica during his commissioning ceremony. Minerals embedded in the dome amplified the light and warmed the space in a glow reminiscent of sunlit marigolds. A pool to one side of the room scattered sparks across the vault, and a moment of peace overtook him. Then, despite the beauty, he bowed his head at the realization the steps he had just followed were the only means into the room.

  He dipped his hand into the water to drink, rings of dirt and blood expanding out into the pool. As he slaked his thirst, he heard a boom like distant cannon fire followed by another seconds later through the earth above him. Brown water began trickling from a shaft in the wall just above the pool and clouded the waters. The flow accelerated, and the splash of the resulting waterfall reverberated around the room making it sound like he was standing inside a bell housing.

  He held the globe up to the face of the shaft which extended upward, and at the far end a gray eye looked back at him. He hoisted himself up and squeezed into the hole where the water broke around his body, but sputtering he pushed forward. The rumble was closer now, summoning him to the surface, but his way was slow as he scratched against the pressure threatening to knock him back into the chamber below. Liquid earth broke away from under his grip, but he was able to wedge his frame against the walls to counter slipping. A rock bounced down the shaft gashing his brow, and the flowing blood obscured his vision, making it difficult to find each handhold.

  He craned his neck and saw through the downpour the circle scored with lightning a few feet above him. The thunder, no longer muffled, grumbled and broke above him. Aurelian clawed at roots and stone willing himself towards the end of the widening opening. Each handhold was easier than the one before it until his fingers sank into the mud at the lip of the hole, and he heaved himself out onto a butte rising just above the height of the jungle.

  He stood and tossed away the ragged shirt so the rain could drum on his skin and wash away the gore and filth. It was not until this moment of triumph that he realized his body had regained its form, and he wondered at it as if he was seeing for the first time. Then, as if a hand had turned a spigot, the rain stopped, and the scab of clouds peeled away revealing the hidden blue.

  “Reborn at the end of a long trail, Akkahellonian?”

  Behind him several paces, Lord Abraham stood flanked by an escort of minotaur. His hair was pasted against his head a
nd dark crescents had formed under his eyes. His gaze burned down the sights of his revolver boring into Aurelian’s head.

  “In your ignorance you have destroyed a masterpiece of technology. An irreplaceable wonder that managed to survive the Reckoning and the ensuing turmoil. You have undone a great thing, so now you are undone,” Lord Abraham said, his voice rising into a shriek.

  Aurelian saw the flash and smoke erupt from the muzzle, and the impact of the round knocked him to the ground. Instinct replaced thought before the bullet struck his skull, and in that moment the innate connection between the elements and Aurelian transformed his flesh into steel.

  Despite the ground giving way to his increased mass, he sprang to his feet and freed his sword from its sheath. Taking advantage of their surprise, Aurelian pounced at his foes, piercing a minotaur through the lung. Lord Abraham backed away as the two remaining guards readied themselves against the armored man before them.

  Turgor, wielding Aurelian’s sabers, deflected Aurelian’s strike and countered, leaving no opening. His opponents maneuvered together without speaking and forced Aurelian to have to guard strikes from the front and rear. A wall of fur and muscle, they held their ground, ignoring the nicks of the rapier’s tip that managed to slip past their defenses.

  Lord Abraham lingered at the edge of the fray, but Aurelian was able to keep a body between himself and the pistol unsure if his steel shell could be pierced. He twisted and stepped between the pair then spun away to prevent them from flanking him again.

  Turgor bellowed then charged, but Aurelian was able to side-step the shoulder check and his attacker lost his balance. Aurelian pirouetted and drove his blade through the brute’s back until the point struck the back of his breastbone. The dying minotaur stumbled forward wresting the sword from Aurelian’s hand and leaving him exposed to a blow from the last minotaur.

  Pain coursed through his body as the cudgel pounded his shoulder, denting his skin and forcing him to the ground next to Turgor’s body. His concentration lapsed, and steel reverted to flesh. The last guard sneered as he advanced intending to end the skirmish, but he could not for the trampled earth of the battle field began crawling up his feet and ankles, extending muddy tendrils and immobilizing the brute’s legs.

  Aurelian rolled to his feet ignoring the pain in his shoulder, yanked his stolen sword from Turgor’s dead hand as he did, then delivered three strikes of lightning that felled the last minotaur. Aurelian spun to challenge Lord Abraham, a snarl at his lips, but his captor had vanished from the butte, replaced by Dr. Iskander who was crossing towards him.

  Chapter VI

  Aurelian held his hand up to the sun scanning the horizon and in the distance saw the sea towards the south. His shoulder still ached, and he winced when Dr. Iskander began rotating Aurelian’s arm. The transformation in the doctor had been subtle, except for his ears no longer sagging so much at their tips. The doctor had removed his shirt baring his green skin to the sun and drinking in the radiance.

  “You’re fine,” the Lepidian said, patting Aurelian on the back.

  “And you have the bedside manner of a man preparing to purchase a horse, Doctor.”

  Iskander laughed.

  “I told you I haven’t practiced in a while.”

  “Thank you for your help,” Aurelian said as the doctor closed his eyes and tilted his face skyward. “For this. And earlier too.”

  “I had meant to encase him fully, but it will be a while before I have regained my form,” Iskander said then opened his eyes. “Besides, it is I who should be thanking you. I watched you climb, and a part of me was jealous. I wished I could do that, and then I asked myself, ‘Why can’t I?’ I had never tried, and I was ashamed of my cowardice. And, of course, that I had let you go alone.”

  There was silence before Aurelian said, “But you climbed.”

  “I did. And when I eventually reached the top, you had already caused your chaos. The fire had spread, and the few guards I saw paid me no mind. I tried to find the means to open the doors, but I couldn’t. As far as I know, everyone else is still down in the valley.”

  “They should be safe.”

  “True,” said Dr. Iskander. “Lord Abraham and his guard never saw me as they stormed past, and I followed them to the surface. I suspected they were on your trail, so I kept after them arriving here in time to see that you have other talents aside from soldiering.”

  “I channel both iron and fire through my skin. In my land it is a curse, and one of the reasons I am in exile.”

  “I won’t pretend to understand, but it is ironic a martial culture such as yours does not have a place for a man of living steel.”

  Aurelian shook his head.

  “There is a place, but not one I wish to be part of. I will not be leashed like a hound.”

  Dr. Iskander waited, but Aurelian offered no more. The sun had crossed the zenith beginning its slow descent, and Aurelia walked towards the tree line.

  “Where now, doctor?”

  “I must go back and see about the others. I can not just leave them sealed in that tomb.”

  Aurelian looked again to the south. Lord Abraham would die in the jungle without his guard or machine beyond his valley of death, and the inner sea was closer than he expected, perhaps two days away. He dropped his eyes to the ocean of trees between himself and his destination. Nothing had diminished the heat or lessened the density of the jungle. He turned and saw the Lepidian had reached the edge of the clearing.

  His journey home and the vengeance in his heart would have to wait. Although his nation had cast his family aside, the lessons ingrained in him since his birth endured. Duty and honor still meant something to him even if his kinsmen had forgotten their meaning. Looking at the Lepidian he knew there were others who also cherished those beliefs.

  “Hold on,” Aurelian called out. “I’ll help. That lot will never make it out of here alone.”

  Dr. Iskander nodded as if he expected no less.

  “Then come Lieutenant Aurelian, and let us see what we can do.”

  “Nicolo,” Aurelian said, and the two men descended to free the souls below.