Seal of Solomon (Journeyman Book 2) (18 page)

Marcus had taken up beside Joey as Gage moved himself closer to the table, his face far more stern than they had seen before. He wanted to be sure they all saw the seriousness there before he continued.

“Though folks here seem unwilling, unable, or just plain defeated, I'm here to tell you right now that I'm gonna step up to the plate and take action against the Noctis. Those demons have taken everything from me several times over, as they will with each and every one of ya and the ones ya love.”

He looked again to Joey and smiled, thinking too of Adrienne. “I know that ya may not like me; hell there are days that I don't even like myself. But I know one thing: I'm a fighter, like the Journeymen were in the past, not some coward. I don't plan on sitting my ass in high halls to endlessly debate the fate of the world. I’m going to hold the fate of the world in my own two, hardworking hands. That's who I am and I dare say that makes me a damn good Journeyman, whether I'm ‘officially sanctioned’ or not.”

He cast a stony glare back at Fenran, who had been tapping his mouth the entire time. “So, my only question back to ya is this: are ya with me against these fuckers… or not? Because time’s wasting and I'm ready to go.”

A LANDSCAPE OF
spongy black moss, tucked in amongst blades of verdant grass, stretched off to the distant horizon. To the west, faint glints from a rushing river of turquoise sparkled in the light while up to the north and east, trees sprung out of the ground – small and scattered at first, but quickly rising with the terrain into a forest canopy. Under the cover of those leaves, amidst the speckled warmth, lay a circular expanse devoid of any vegetation. It was highly polished, like glass.

Swirls of light appeared between the branches, roping their way around the clearing. They twisted and bent into the shape of another glowing sigil while any loose debris was tossed around in all directions. Quickly, the lines coalesced in the center of the area and in an instant of fading light, Adrienne and her guide had arrived at their destination.

She fell to her knees, nauseous as though she had ridden on one too many roller coasters, like in her pre-teen years. The smell of spice diminished and she took in a gulp of cool, now grassy air. It helped to alleviate her stomach while she waited impatiently for her head to stop pounding. Her blurry vision soon sharpened and she began to survey their surroundings. It felt deceptively serene and she noted that there was no sound except for the dull rumble of the ever-present storm above. It was all working wonderfully to make her altogether uneasy.

Silver said nothing to her before stepping forward to scan the area himself, his keen eyes unable to find anything immediate in the high branches or lurking in the low shrubs. Still, he braced himself in one hand with his enchanted staff while the other held onto his dagger tightly, ready to take on an imminent attack.

Adrienne found herself following suit, but with absolutely no idea what to expect should something large come charging out of the dense foliage. Lucky for them nothing came yet, though the air still hung thick with dread.

“Where are we?” she whispered, taking advantage of the brief respite. She heard a rustle and her eyes flicked over toward some nearby bushes, ominously swaying as a bead of stinging sweat rolled into her eye.

“As I told you not moments ago, we’ve arrived near the base of a temple,” he answered in a hushed snip, “with something inside that may be able to get you back where you belong. Now come quickly, we mustn’t delay while we still have -”

A horrific roar suddenly came; unlike anything Adrienne had ever heard before. It was as if all the wild beasts of the world had let loose together with one, deafening bellow, coming from all around as it ricocheted off the uprooting trees.

Something massive was on its way… no, here.

Through the thunderous noise they came at them, striking with blinding speed. A mass of shriveled gray hands wrapped around Adrienne's legs and arms with a strength that did not match their appearance. They forced her to the ground and she lay there winded before being drug on her back across the rugged soil toward the tree line. Her dagger was pinned to her side along with the arm brandishing it, immobile and useless.

Silver tapped his staff to the ground and a brilliant shield of azure appeared around him, knocking away his attackers in a sudden blaze of lustrous sparks. It faded away and he produced his own blade, swiping it with skill across several of the tightly wound arms. With a piercing whine, viscous darkness started to spill out from the wounds, staining the shiny stone with a pungent filth.

Adrienne managed to get enough breath into her lungs to call out for help, just as the leaves began to enter her peripheral vision. She had reached the overgrowth, mere seconds away from being consumed.

“Not today, beast!” Silver shouted as he swept his staff across the front of his body. A lance of light leapt from the knotted wood, soaring through the air like a blade toward Adrienne, striking the callous hands that held her with a force that scorched them to cinders.

The creature’s screams filled the air with agony and soot; surely this noise or the offensive smells would only serve to call more of them to its aid. They didn’t have to wait long to find out, distant sounds of terror being carried in by the wind.

Adrienne promptly rose to her feet, coughing while she rushed over to the man’s side. As she reached him, she dared not look back, hearing the monster’s heavy footfalls charge to a gallop.

“Get behind me,” he ordered, raising the rod aloft. “Now!”

Out of the woods, a throbbing mass of coiled darkness rushed them and he again struck the ground with his staff. The shield erupted to life once more and prevented the monster from reaching them. However, its legion of decrepit arms encircled their spherical protection and shut out the world, fading their view to black. The only light came from the subtle and sporadic ripples of shield against monster flesh, but it was cold and dim, not affording much to see with.

“How are you doing back there?” he asked over the creaking of the barrier. He feared losing the shield at any time, so poured as much focus as he could spare into keeping it deployed.

“Doing okay,” she answered calmly. “All things considered.”

“Good, because I am going to need you to do something very critical: strike the beast when it’s vulnerable.” He had said it so matter-of-factly that the magnitude of what he was asking her to do didn’t register at first. Once it had, her heart skipped several beats.

“Vulnerable?” she asked nervously.

“On the count of three, I’m going to lower the barrier, blasting the creature away from us. Hopefully the spread of the shockwave plus the amount of pain it’ll be in will be enough to cause it to reveal its soul.”

“Its soul?” she repeated, not sure if she was still rattled from being drug over one too many sharp stones. “You mean its
actual
-”

“Yes! My goodness girl you and these questions will be the death of me!” he barked, puffing out a few calming breaths before resuming. “The soul will manifest itself as a white sphere of energy in the center of its body; it could possibly be crystallized if the creature has protected itself. Since we’ve been giving it a walloping, I would not be surprised if that's what we find. In any case, you must strike at the soul hard and fast, while it’s exposed - only then can it be destroyed. We’ll only have one chance at this, so don’t fuck it up.”

The defenses continued to groan under the oppressive power of the monster, clamping down with all its might. The edges of the barrier started to buckle from the stress, sending more random pulses of light flowing throughout the interior.

“Well, when you put it THAT nicely,” she said, clutching her dagger’s handle in anticipation as a passing flash of blue gleamed off the blade. “You better believe I’ll make it count.”

“Good, because we are going in three…”

She was prepared. “Ready!”

“Two…” he said, grasping the staff with both hands.

“ONE!”

With a powerful thrust, the shield blew outward, splaying the tangled mess of arms in all directions. As the they spread, tattered and frayed, a glow emerged at the very center of its body, growing brighter as the darkness spread thinner. Before long, a crystalline surface tore out from the black goop, shimmering like an iridescent pearl. The monster’s soul was exposed and vulnerable.

“Gotcha!”
Adrienne exclaimed, launching the dagger toward her target. It spun through the air and her aim was true, striking it right in the middle. It cracked as the blade lodged itself inside and there was an eruption of yellow light.

The creature howled and clutched at the shining sphere, its many hands flailing about. The broken façade started to flake away and the rest of the creature’s body painfully crumbled. Before long, the core screamed and then shattered, sending a potent blast that knocked both Adrienne and Silver hard into the ground.

The ringing in her ears lingered as Adrienne pined for breath, unsure how long she’d been out. The roars that were so distant earlier sounded much closer now and one thing was certain: she hated the Astral Plane with a vengeance. The growls and snarls continued to grow louder, mixed in with the sounds of topping trees. The creatures were close and the both of them had to go.

Rising to her feet, she scurried over to Silver, his face buried in a pile of dirt. She checked him tenderly for any signs of life and thankfully found them, able to raise him to consciousness soon after.

He coughed a few times between deep, croaking gasps, steadying himself on his staff as he slowly stood. Snapping to attention and without so much as a thank you, he rushed ahead, weaving between the trees like a berserk needle through cloth.

Adrienne tilted her head to the side, a crease between her eyes. “You’re welcome,” she mumbled snidely as he continued to recede into the woods. “Hey, wait up!”

She watched him, falling in close behind as his head bobbed obstinately during the gradual climb. Grotesque and disturbing noises leeched out from the thick woodlands as they swept through, their hidden sources trying to set her nerves on edge, but the desire to get back home propelled her forward. After fifteen minutes of trekking through the darkening forest, the man came to a stop just ahead of a strange copse; branches arched like a doorway in the middle of an impenetrable thicket of thorny vines. It reminded Adrienne of a gazebo of sorts, complete with floral bouquets of white and yellow petals dappled over the trunks.

“We’ve arrived,” he said quietly, brushing off a thin layer of dust and vegetation that had accumulated in the folds of his cloak. He planted his staff into the soft soil, leaning on it as he looked left, greeted by an endless expanse of vines; to the right was the same. There was no going around or over this barricade; they’d have to go through it. “Come now,” he said confidently, striding toward the arch, “the temple is this way.”

No sooner than he had passed underneath the branches and in faster time than a blink, he was gone.

Adrienne stared blankly at the empty space and for a fleeting moment, a distressing feeling of abandonment fell upon her. What if he had just left her there? What if this was a trap? There was no way to know his true motives, hell she didn’t even know who he was. A far off howl slashed through her thoughts like a knife, reminding her that she needed to move on. Hesitant yet determined, she followed under the arching limbs.

There was a gust of wind as she stepped through, finding herself in the middle of another clearing. This one did not feel nearly as ominous
,
actually fairly tranquil like a lush glade. That’s when she saw it, looming before her at the base of a rolling hill.

The temple was immense, built out of dense chunks of flecked brown stone far heavier than any mortal could have lifted, even with legions of men. Gargantuan carvings of bizarre creatures adorned the entire base of the building. Some she recognized from Earth like the werewolves, those damn bunyips, and ogres, yet a majority of the rest defied description – ripped straight out of the world’s worst nightmares. Her eyes lifted, following the dank rock far to the skies above, where the familiar sight of dark clouds roared with lightning. A single bolt lashed out to strike the top of the tallest pinnacle, sending a shower of rubble tumbling all the way down to the ground below.

She spotted Silver off a ways, standing near a great entrance of pewter and gold, set between two lofty statues of men; he looked considerably small when compared to the building. As she approached, she studied the tall sculptures carefully and wondered if they might be Journeymen – their clothing seemed to trigger vague memories from the History of the Order lectures she had trudged through. Their identities were unknown to her though, certainly due to their weather-worn appearance and nothing at all to do with a lack of attention paid in those classes.

When she reached him, he was hunched over and tracing an area in the dirt with the end of his staff. The ground was incredibly hard and it took several swipes to get the faintest hint of a line to show. Resolute, he continued and with a lot effort – and an even greater amount of language – he had scratched out a rough square about ten feet wide. His demeanor became much calmer as he took a seat within the lines, letting out a extended, pent up breath.