The Green Lama: Unbound (The Green Lama Legacy Book 3) (38 page)

“Where are the others?” he weakly asked as he painfully pushed himself up onto his knees.

Heydrich raised a torn eyebrow. “Your friends in the airplane? They are, I believe the expression is, ‘in Davey Jones’ Locker.’”

Jethro struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. “I do not believe you.”

“Believe it or not, I could care less, Dumont,” Heydrich said with a shrug. He began to circle around Jethro. “The fact of the matter is you and I have reached the point where our paths finally diverge. And whereas you once left me to rot in the snows of Tibet, I will leave you to bleed at Cthulhu’s feet.”

“Do not get ahead of yourself, Heydrich,” Nyarlathotep scolded. “There is still the matter of the ring.”

Jethro stole a glance at the Jade Tablet around his finger; the skin around the ring was raw but healing, flecks of blood covering the rainbow fiber. A rueful smile curled his lips. “Tried to take it off did you?” He looked at Nyarlathotep. “I figured you would have learned better.”

With a vacant expression, Nyarlathotep backhanded Jethro. Blood spurted out of his mouth. Wiping the blood away with his sleeve, Jethro chuckled. “Are you going to beat me until I tell you how to remove the Tablet? I would have thought
gods
would have much more powerful means of persuasion.”

“I’ve
seen
you take it off, Dumont!” Heydrich shrieked, grabbing Jethro’s right arm and twisting it until the shoulder snapped free. Jethro grunted, but refused to give Heydrich the satisfaction of a scream. He felt something weigh down the edge of his sleeve, hitting against his arm, rattling quietly like a saltshaker.

“There are rules, Heydrich,” Jethro said through gritted teeth. “Laws by which we must abide. The Tablet has will all its own, revealing its truths only to those who have earned them!”

Heydrich unsheathed the Shard and pressed its serrated point against the soft spot under Jethro’s chin. “Perhaps we kill you? We have read that is one way to free the Tablet from its perch.”

Jethro chuckled. “That is true, but if that were ever your plan you would have already done so.”

Heydrich hesitated, stealing a glance at Nyarlathotep. “Perhaps, I wanted the pleasure of—”

Jethro started to laugh hysterically.

“Stop laughing!” Heydrich hissed. “I
will
kill you!”

“I have no doubt you will,” Jethro said through the laughter. “But you and I both know that you need me alive to raise Cthulhu. Save your
phurba
for the actual sacrifice and leave the theatrics for those with talent.”

Heydrich let go of Jethro’s arm as Nyarlathotep snatched the crystalline blade away from him.

“You called it
phurba
,” Nyarlathotep said, examining the blade. “I suppose you might consider it that; a ritualistic blade. And yes, in many ways, you’d be right. But it is so much more than that.”

“It’s a piece of the Third Jade Tablet, the ‘Fire from Olympus, ’” Jethro said. “And it’s the same blade you used to kill that poor woman at Samothrace.”

“You’ve been paying attention.” Nyarlathotep smiled. “Tell me, Jethro, have you ever wondered why you of
all
the people in the world were chosen to bear the Sacred Colors?” He cocked his head. “Never once asked your former Tulku
,
Tsarong, or any of the other lamas why
you
became the Green Lama? No, of course you did. You probably asked every day, but they never gave a
real
answer, did they? Do you know the secret Tsarong kept hidden from you? What they had been training you for since the day you took on the Jade Tablet?” Nyarlathotep leaned forward so his cracked lips almost touched Jethro’s ear. “Well, then, let me tell you,” he whispered as he opened the
Necronomicon
, showing Jethro an image of a man dressed in green robes being brutally sacrificed before a squid-faced dragon “You are the Promised One, the Scion, heralded millennia ago for one single purpose: You were born to raise Cthulhu.”

C
HAPTER 19

CTHULHU RISES

Dumont paced the cabin like a caged tiger, his hands firmly placed in his pockets, every so often glancing out the porthole as Bombay disappeared over the horizon. The ship’s horns sounded. He was heading home. He chewed his lower lip, unable to quell the war within his mind. He had convinced himself he wasn’t running away; he was simply taking the next step in his path. He had discovered all he could in Tibet, he had become a
Bodhisattva
, one who dedicated his life to the wellbeing of others
,
and now he would bring the Dharma to America and help all those who were lost.

And the ring on his finger, glowing subtly in the sunlight? It was nothing more than a trinket given by the natives. It was better to think of it that way. Safer.

He risked a glance at the ancient Tibetan man meditating on the cabin floor, now looking older more than ever. “I never asked you to come with me.”

“No, you did not,” Tsarong replied without opening his eyes.

Dumont nodded silently and returned to gazing out the window.

An hour passed before Tsarong spoke again. “We are but pebbles on the shore.”

“Hm?” Dumont sounded, puzzled.

Tsarong smiled. “Oh, it is just that you and I have been sitting here in silence for so long I thought it best that I should say something that sounded profound.”

Dumont laughed. “Pebbles on the shore. Yes, I remember…” He paused for a moment and then said quietly: “You belong at the Temple of the Clouds.”

Tsarong tilted his head and gave Dumont a small smile. “Do I? You are my Tulku and my friend. I could not let you leave alone.”

“You were my Tulku first,” Dumont reminded him.

Tsarong’s smile broadened. “Then ever more the reason I stay with you.”

“New York is no place for men like you. It is a dangerous city, full of arrogance and greed.”

“Is that why you so wish to return?”

Dumont placed his hands behind his back. “It is a city I understand,” he said reluctantly. “I speak its language, know its rhythms. I can navigate its canyons, its rivers. It is my home.”

“Truly? And so sure are you that you know it so well after ten years abroad?” Tsarong retorted. Opening his eyes, he gazed at Dumont who looked so much like the young boy who had once walked through the mountains in search of his destiny. “We shall both be strangers in a strange land, Tulku. Would it not be preferable to take this new journey in tandem? Though if you feel otherwise,” he said with slight bow of his head,” hen our paths shall diverge once we make the port of New York City.”

Dumont chuckled at that. “Fair enough, Tsarong. But don’t say I never warned you.”

• • •

Jean hacked out water as she brought her head above the surface, finding only darkness. “Ken!” she coughed, treading water. “Ken, you still with me?”

“Yeah,” he said weakly nearby. “Yeah, I’m still here… If I knew where ‘here’ was…”

She tried to peer through the darkness when she noticed a faint green light emanating from the water. “Hold on a second.” She reached into her satchel, brought out the Third Jade Tablet and raised it above her head, the room instantly filling with green light, revealing Ken wading inches in front of her.

“Look at that,” Ken marveled. “It’s also a night light.”

“The wonders never cease,” she said sardonically.

“Where the hell are we?” Ken asked, looking up at the black expanse above them, echoes of images hidden within the shadows of the ceiling.

“You got me,” Jean voiced as she glanced around, noticing a long spiral stone staircase across the pool. “Looks like we can climb out over there.”

“Do you think the Lama will ever get tired of this stuff?” Ken asked as they swam over.

“How do you mean?”

“This adventuring stuff, being a costumed vigilante, running around saving the day all the time. Do you think he’ll, I dunno,
retire
?”

“Y’know, Ken,” she said as pulled herself out of the water,” never really thought about it.”

“But if you two ever get hitched, how would that work?” he asked as Jean helped him on to the platform.

“Little soon for marrying us off don’t you think?”

“Maybe I’m just traditional,” he said with a shrug.

Jean screwed her face. “And I completely believe that.”

“All right,” he conceded. “But, even if you two just go steady, what sorta life would that be?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, her expression unreadable.

They began climbing the stones stairs, running two steps at a time until their legs became sore. The stairwell gradually became more and more illuminated as they made their way, enough so that they could begin to see shapes form around them.

“Hey, look at that,” Ken said after several minutes, indicating the massive shadowed figure suspended high overhead. “What do you suppose that is?”

Jean risked a glance. A pit formed in her stomach as the green light shone off the thousands of man-sized scales. “To tell ya the truth, Ken, I’m not sure I wanna know.”

• • •

“Okay, was it ‘left, right, right’ or ‘right, left, left?’” Caraway asked as they reach a fork in the road.

Rick glanced back in the direction they came. “I thought we just did ‘left, right, right.”

“No, we just did ‘left, left, right.’” Caraway looked at Vasili hoping he would have an answer, but the other man had slipped back into unconsciousness. “Come on, Vasili,” he said under his breath. “Help us out here…”

“Who builds a city like this?” Rick grumbled. “No straight lines, everything made outta coral. Doesn’t make any goddamn sense.”

“Aliens,” Caraway replied. “Really ancient aliens.”

• • •

“Oh,” Rick blinked with bewilderment. “Well, of course.”

Jethro’s whole body shook, sweat poured down his face. Could it be true? Was he really destined to bring about the end of the world? Everything he had done, all the injustice he had fought, was it all leading to this? Was his only true purpose in this realm to resurrect its greatest evil?

No, he refused to believe that. No matter prophecy or the words of demons, he would not succumb.

“Terrifying, isn’t it?” Heydrich smiled. It was just the two of them now, alone in the small coral cell. “Being at death’s door, knowing that in moments you will face the abyss and there is nothing you can do to stop it?”

Jethro glared at him. “I have no fear of death and no fear of you or your masters; the Führer or your false god. No matter what that creature says, I know the Dharma and my destiny.”

“Buddhist fool!” Heydrich said. “So focused on your Dharma, you are blind to what is right in front you…You took away all that I was, for what? To save some native child? Look at what I’ve become!” he screamed, tearing a loose chunk of flesh from his face and holding it before Jethro. Black ooze spilled from the wound, down his neck, soaking his robes. “No more human than a vacant shell. This is on your head. Just as every single death that will come out of Cthulhu’s rise. Every screaming child, every tormented woman, every crucified man. All the pain and agony that will be born into the world will all share one father: Jethro Dumont.”

“This is all about
vengeance
?” Jethro gasped. He forced himself to his feet and grabbed Heydrich by the collar. “You’ve been conspiring with the greatest evils in existence, murdering innocents, bringing about the end of the world…
all to punish me
?”

“They say revenge is a dish best served cold, no?” Heydrich said, brushing Jethro’s hands aside. “For me, it shall be a banquet.”

Jethro stumbled back, lost for words.

“Make peace with your gods, Buddhist,” Heydrich said as he exited the cell, “because in a few moments, you shall meet mine.”

As the sphincter-like door sealed shut, Jethro fell down to his hands and knees, lost. Something in his right cuff
clinked
against the ground.

Curious, he pulled at the torn seam and a small glass vial fell into his hand.

He chuckled softly as a smile broke his lips.

“Thank you, Tulku.”

• • •

They found themselves on a large balcony overlooking an enormous hollowed out cavern, one side completely bathed in shadow. There was no singular source of light; it was the walls themselves that were glowing. A wide plateau of coral sat a hundred feet below them, the sharp cliff edge cut by the darkness. A narrow peninsula extended out from the center, like a dagger in the night; a small mound sat at the precipice. Jean could just make out the human handprint pressed into the coral. Two small terraces could be seen on either end of the horseshoe balcony, both in line with the mound at the center below. Intricate carvings lined every surface, done with such impossible detail that they seemed to move.