Destiny (13 page)

Chapter
Seventeen

Location Irlendria / Startüm Ironwolf:

Jagged bolts of lightning shattered the stormy night as we tumbled into the dark chasm with half the mountain raining down around us. I felt the shock waves through my bones as the thunderstorm roared in fury around us. Finishing my prayer to Ukko, I opened my eyes quickly wiping away the ice plastered to my face. The force of the wind’s passage rippled across my cheeks as I watched the strobing flashes lit up the Otso River far below. There were only seconds left before impact.

Gathering my strength, I held the unconscious twins protectively to my chest as the falling plateau slammed into the river ahead of us. As a massive plume of water shot into the air, I activated the Rök runes tattooed into my skin and engraved into my armor as we dropped into the center of the churning mess, focusing on the one thing that mattered more than anything else.

For the first time in my life, I was not alone. The feelings of love and protectiveness welling up inside of me were like nothing I’d ever known before. In that instant, I knew I would do whatever it took to keep my girls safe. Breathing in a lungful of air, I screamed out my prayer to Ukko.

“Suoja!”

I felt my protection aura snap into place a second before we plunged into the depths of the Otso River. The impact stole my breath away as the icy cold water ripped through me like a knife. Hitting the water was the most excruciating physical pain I’d ever felt in my entire life. It was as if every bone in my body had ruptured on impact. By Ukko’s grace alone I managed to hold onto consciousness as we plummeted into the depths of the river.

Massive boulders rained into the water around us as the rest of the avalanche crashed into the river like an unstoppable force of destruction. Using my darkvision, I was able to dodge the largest pieces that would have crushed us instantly to death as they hurling past us into the deep, but that still left the majority of the mountain to batter my broken body.

I don’t how many times I was forced back into the depths, but as the mass of falling debris finally let up, we reached the surface. Thick sheets of snow still fell from the storm clouds overhead as thunder rocked the heavens, but the avalanche had run its course. Breathing a sigh of relief, I released my Rök runes laying back in the water when I realized my armor was floating. Lifting the girls higher onto my chest to get them out of the freezing water, I let my head sag back in exhaustion as the current carried us away.

I was sure that the seething river was the only thing that saved our lives from that height. If the avalanche hadn’t broken the surface tension of the water, we would have died on impact. Not even my Rök runes could have changed that. As it was, it felt like every bone in my body had been broken.

Gathering the very last of my power reserves, I pushed a trickle of healing energy into Starfire and Frostbrand. As their condition stabilized once more, my eyes rolled back into my head as the Fring began raging through my depleted body once more. Semi-conscious, I felt the water around us gathering speed as we began hitting rough pockets of rapids, but my breastplate supported us like a lifejacket. Mentally I patted myself on the back for using synthetic water-resistant padding for my armor so many years ago. In truth, the side effect had been an unintentional part of the design. I felt my thoughts begin to drift as I held the girls tightly in my arms.

Loneliness is a powerful emotion. Still, I couldn’t believe how important the girls had become to me in such a short amount of time. Except for my connection to Ukko, for as long as I could remember I’d always been alone. Even though I’d been born a member of the Shadowfang Pack, I had never been truly accepted as part of the Pack, which was just another wonderful aspect of being born a half-breed. Later on, when my parents died defending Irlendria from the Tuonellian invasion, my Grandsire had done his best to raise me. Unfortunately, he’d never truly understood me.

I had thought the feelings of isolation would have gone away as I grew older, but even after teaching thousands upon thousands of humans the Ukko Method of Self Defense, and starting a movement with over one and a half billion followers, my feelings of loneliness had only intensified. Since the death of my father’s people, I never stopped to have a life. Every second was spent working towards the goal of ending the evil that was Loviatar, never once questioning the path that fate had chosen for me to follow. When, on my twenty-first birthday, I’d had enough.

I’m sure some people would accuse me of losing faith and abandoning my followers, but that was not the case. By then my students were already well on their path to Ukko and my absence caused them no harm. I would love to say that the change allowed me to explore new options for fighting my people’s ancient enemy, but the simple truth of the matter was that I wanted more from life. I hadn’t given up the fight, but there had to be more to life than just duty and suffering.

My thoughts came back into focus as a loud roaring sound began getting closer. Water splashed violently over my head as I weakly looked around for the source of the noise. At first, my fuzzy mind couldn’t figure out what was happening, but when I saw the heavy spray of mist quickly approaching. My heart skipped a beat.

We had reached Ashima Falls! It was the highest waterfall in all of Irlendria. Also the unspoken dividing line between the realm of the beasts and civilization, it was the beginning of the Great Forest and the realm of the Elves.

How had we traveled down the Otso River in such a short time? I knew I’d faded out, but … Spinning around in the water I scanned the bank on either of the river searching for an escape, but it was too late. Even if I’d been at full strength and alone, the embankments would have still been too far away me to reach in time. Even half submerged in the icy-cold water my head burned with fever. In my present physical condition, the river banks may as well have been back on Earth.

My consciousness continued fading in and out as my body fought the ravaging effects of the Fring. Still, I had enough strength left to gather the twins in my protective embrace as we approached the drop-off. Ahead of me, I saw the dark horizon disappeared into a white snowy haze. We were so high up that if it had been a clear day I could have looked out onto the rolling grasslands of the Imperium.

Raising my eyes to the heavens as the roaring sound filled my ears, I prayed as we fell into darkness once again. “Ukko beskytt oss.” (Ukko protect us.)

Chapter
Eighteen

Location Earth / Larissa Evans:

“The next slide is the most up to date map of the Crypt of Britomartis we have so far.” Clicking next Larissa displayed the map of the geode’s main cavern. “If you will take particular note of the unique condition of the biological specimens in the main chamber, you will notice that they are perfectly preserved with no signs of decay. Carbon dating has positively identified the tridymite crystalline shells to be three and a half thousand years old.”

Clicking through the next several slides, Larissa used a light glow pen to highlight the semitransparent crystals encasing the biological specimens like bulky, oversized sarcophagus. “From what we can discern at this early stage is that somehow the entire chamber was instantaneously coated with this crystallization material. As far as we can discern, there has been no significant biological decay of the specimens. Seeing the electronic hand in her webinar toolbar, Larissa looked up from her notes. “Yes, Doctor Marinatos?“

Doctor Stefanos Thomopoulos Marinatos, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, was her only friend in this digital inquisition of her academic peers, which had been convened within hours of her discovery hitting the international media. The man was like a father to her ever since her real father had died when she was twenty-three.

“From the pictures you have shown us, it seems like the crystalline matrix covering your specimens is shrinking rapidly.”

“From what we have observed so far, your astute observations are precisely correct, Doctor Marinatos.”

Flipping back to the first pictures, Larissa slowly went through the series once more as she noted, this time, the decreasing thickness of the crystalline shells in each frame over the last twenty-four hours. “Initially, when the crypt was opened, the crystalline sheaths were three meters thick, but as you can see. In just one day’s time, the crystalline structures are now only a meter and a half in depth and still rapidly shrinking.”

Without raising his electronic hand Doctor Georgios Marinatos, Head Curator of the Herakelion Museum in Greece, butted in abruptly. “That is scientifically impossible! Tridymite crystals do not shrink when exposed to air. What kind of cockamamie story are you trying to give us, Doctor Evans?”

Quickly, Larissa forwarded to the next slide. “Actually Doctor Marinatos, the report was prepared by Doctor John Hempshaw. I am sure you are aware of his reputation from his work as Head Geophysicists at The American Geosciences Institute in Virginia? On this slide, you can see Doctor Hempshaw’s estimated timeline for the crystalline structures’ decay.”

Not waiting for any further interruptions, Larissa continued her presentation. “Next we will discuss the various biological specimens found within the crypt’s vault. In this next slide, we will discuss the biological specimens I’ve designated Minotaurus.“

Clicking to the next slide, Larissa used her light pen to highlight multiple locations on the map of the crypt’s internal layout. “You will notice the majority of Minotaurus are clustered near the center of the chamber in what appears to be military formations. I ask that you pay special attention to each specimen’s weapon position. I believe it is important …”

A jumble of roaring voices suddenly erupted in outrage from her computer speakers as the virtual conference reacted to the picture on the current slide. Stopping her presentation, Larissa looked directly into the video conference’s camera unflinchingly as the angry roar of her academic peers increased in volume. They would forever hate her. Covering her face, Larissa messaged her bloodshot eyes as she waited for the commotion to die down to a level where she could once again be heard.

The problem was as simple as it was complex. All of the physical sciences like anthropology and archeology were especially sensitive to anything that did not follow the acceptable rule of terrestrial scientific theory. When discussing the evolution of humanity, professional academia only accepted theories that were based on terrestrial evolution. If a professor presented a theory that did not follow this one stringent guideline, they found themselves instantly and irrevocably discredited from the realm of professional academia. Forever considered a fringe theorist.

Even then, new scientific theories had to survive the political gauntlet associated with the pre-existing power structure in place that directed most scientific research and discovery. Only in extremely rare occasions throughout history had a discovery manage to breach the current power structure in place to actually see the light of day.

Smiling to herself, Larissa popped her knuckles. This discovery was going to be one of those rare occasions. The physical evidence alone that she possessed would ruin many of the academic professors aligned before her in today’s call by calling into question the scientific theories that had made them famous in the first place. In one fell swoop, she would change how the world looked at the development of human history and open up new theories about the ancient civilizations of humanity’s past that had never before been allowed to be openly discussed.

Looking at the angry faces of her academic peers, Larissa grinned in satisfaction. She had long ago been written off my most of these men for simply being a woman in a male-dominated field. When they’d discovered she wouldn’t sit idly by as they brushed her aside under the heel of their authority, they sought to discredit her academically. Through it all, she had still managed to make a name for herself. Now she had them by the balls, and there wasn’t anything they could do to stop her. Already the evidence of her discovery of Atlantis was blowing up the airwaves.

Suddenly, a barking laugh cut through the indignant buzz of conversation. As silence returned once again, Larissa recognized the voice of her hated nemesis Doctor Ian Barnes, head of the British Association. Sneering into the conference camera’s pick up, the pompous ass addressed her smugly.

“Minotaurs, how droll can you be? Doctor Evans, did you really think you could show something as ridiculous as this and expect not to lose your fellowship within the Royal Society?” With a wave of his hand, he casually dismissed her evidence. “Who do you think will bother listening to your absurd claims now? Do you expect anyone of us to believe you’ve truly found the lost city of Atlantis?”

Bernard Thomas, head of the Society of Antiquaries, chimed in from his office in Berkshire with his own witty comment. “How can you possibly find something that never existed in the first place? Doctor Evans, if your father could see you now, what would he say?”

Screeching in rage, Larissa picked up the video camera. Striding across the tent, she flung back the flap with a sweep of her arm. Panning the video camera across the island of Nea Kameni, she focused on the flood of news reporters and scientists arriving by the boatload. Holding the video camera with two hands, she flipped it around so that she was yelling directly into its video pickup. “You pompous buffoons! You wouldn’t recognize a scientific discovery if it hit you in the face!”

Taking deep breaths to control her temper, Larissa walked back to her desk. Setting the video camera back into its holder, she broke down the basics of her find. “Just so that you know, I have the perfectly preserved biological specimens of a small army of Minotaurus frozen in the middle of some great battle. Not to mention, the uncovered remains of what appears to be a Gorgones near the center of the main chamber. On top of it all, I have the remains of a mostly intact city that is named Atlantis in Minoan.“ Leaning onto the desk in front of the camera, Larissa put her face right up to the video camera. “How dare you accuse me of being a fraud.”

Pushing away from the small desk, Larissa began pacing as she began listing off her points. “Right now, I have the leading biologist in the world, Herr Friestmann, preparing to take tissue samples for genetic testing of the specimens in the crypt as we speak. I have experts from around the world flying in to be a part of this discovery of a lifetime. Lastly, I have the associated press from around the world arriving daily to documenting the entire unearthing of the dig in high definition on live TV. “

Pointing at the camera once more, Larissa yelled at the top of her lungs. “As far as I am concerned, you can all read about my discovery in the London Times and go to bloody hell!”

You could have heard a pin drop as most of the video conference’s attendees stared back at her seething in indignant rage. The taboo was suddenly broken by a cruel sneer. “Larissa … Larissa … Larissa, you will never learn.” Instead of addressing her points, Doctor Ian Barnes shook his head as if he were dealing with a petulant child before breaking his connection. As the automated meeting operator announced the doctor's departure, the rest of the meeting attendees began exiting as well. Doctor Marinatos gave her a quick thumbs up with a promise to talk more later, but once he left, Larissa was the only one in the virtual meeting room.

With a strangled cry Larissa slammed her mouse down as she broke the meeting’s connection. Just brilliant! For a long moment, she stared at the video image looking back at her from the conference’s main welcome screen. Coming to a decision, she strode out of the tent with a burning purpose heading for the crypt.

Larissa’s hollow footfalls echoed around her as she climbed down the metal stairway that had been temporary erected where the Titan XI had initially penetrated the now dead volcano. Across the inner crypt, there were teams of archeologists hard at work as they went about the arduous task of documenting every aspect of the historical dig. Walking to the very center of the perfectly round chamber, Larissa stood before the central dais once again. With a heavy frown, she studied the tridymite crystalline shell encasing the specimen inside.

The emotional intensity radiating out from the inhumanly beautiful face still stole Larissa’s breath away if she gazed at it for too long. Rising above the entire chamber exactly two point sixty-five meters in height, the Gorgones’ body had been frozen, while reaching out above towards the heavens with what could only be described as a look of supplication. Even though the Gorgones’ humanoid torso sat atop a pile of thick snake coils, Sharon calculated that normally the snake-woman would only have been around one point seventy-seven meters tall, which was only slightly taller in height than the human average.

The Gorgones was overwhelmingly female. Although she didn’t depict the concepts of twenty-first-century beauty, there was something of a matronly supermodel meets Mother Teresa vibe that radiated out from the snake-woman even in death. Larissa almost choked at the thought as she pictured her long dead Catholic father’s reaction to such a heretical statement since the woman was completely nude. The pieces of decorative jewelry and utility belt the Gorgones wore wouldn’t have been misconstrued as clothing anywhere in the world. None the less Larissa wouldn’t have retracted the statement. To her, the Gorgones didn’t look naked frozen as she was in her holy entreaty.

From the waist down, the woman’s lower half merged into the thick coils of a brightly colored constrictor snake where the legs of a human woman would normally be. Instead of hair, she had a headful of very fine, hair-like, red setaceous antennae that cascaded down her back, each with multiple segments and joints that were equally distributed down the antennae’s entire length. Oddly enough, this only added to the woman’s inhuman beauty. She could easily see how primitive man would have thought the woman’s hair were living serpents. When alive, her waving antennae must have been quite a sight.

Normally Larissa had no particular love for reptiles or insects, but there was something oddly comforting about being in the Gorgones’ presence. More and more she found herself coming here to think. Frowning for a moment, Larissa suddenly realized she’d seen an almost identical looking statue in Major Aixi’s office. Between the dig and dealing with the Mayor’s treachery, she’d been too busy to think about it, but now that more of the Gorgones had become visible. She knew she was right. Tabling that for a later discussion with Sean, Larissa thoughtfully bit her lip.

Initially, the crystalline block had been too thick to make out any exact details of what was held within, but within hours that had quickly changed. While the other specimens were losing their crystalline shapes at a nearly identical rate of speed, the Gorgones‘ shell was shrinking slightly slower. When she’d first entered the crypt. The crystalline structures had been mostly a shapeless semi-opaque block, but over the last day that had changed dramatically.

Sharon had placed a rushed order for enough hermetically sealable bags for all of the specimens in the crypt, but the company didn’t think it would have enough of the specially ordered body bags made up within the timeline she needed. Sharon had said she would take the first three as soon as they were produced and the rest in increments of five as they were made available. Still it was going to be tight.

Looking out across the cavern, Larissa knew she was missing something important about these tridymite crystalline shells. It was there if only she could see what she was missing.

“LARISSA … LARISSA!”

Turning around at Sharon’s urgent call, she looked at her friend worriedly. Larissa knew her well enough to know that Sharon only used that tone when something was terribly wrong. “What is going on Sharon?”

“God, I have been looking for you everywhere.” Grabbing her arm, Sharon pulled her at a half run back to the stairs. “You’re going to have to see this to believe it.”

Following after Sharon, Larissa took the stairs two at a time. “What is going on? Is the Mayor giving us problems again?” Getting no response Larissa swore loudly. “Bloody hell, Sharon, tell me what is happening!”