The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death (71 page)

“Hurry, Brothers!” d’Brouchart shouted at
them. “We must abandon this place at once.”

They clambered to their feet with the
assistance of Simon and Christopher who were finally able to join
them. Already, Christopher was chalking up another list of sins as
he cursed the pitching, rolling ground beneath his feet. Valentino
regained her footing and grabbed hold of D’Brouchart’s arm.

“What is this?!” she shouted at him above the
rumbling noise. “What have you done?!”

“Behold the Insects of Sherma!” he exclaimed
jubilantly and held up the baculus toward the sun. “Those mystical
creatures of legend which carved the stones of the Temple of
Solomon from the living rock.”

“What?!” Ramsay threw up both arms and turned
toward the Master in consternation. He watched in stunned amazement
as the rocks seemed to heave and move of their own accord. “That’s
impossible. Surely, not! What have you done?”

Von Hetz caught his arm and shook his head.
The noise of the cracking rocks and hissing steam was making it
impossible to be heard above the din. “The Insects of Sherma,
Brother!” the Apocalyptic Knight shouted in his ear. “The
instrument God used to carve out the polished marble stones for
Solomon’s Temple! And thus spake the Lord ‘Let their habitation be
desolate’!”

They moved in a tight group toward the side
of the hill, stumbling and starting and stopping and holding on to
each other as the ground continued to shake and roll under them.
Ramsay grabbed Valentino again and dragged her along with them in
spite of her desire to go in a different direction. He stopped
short at the sound of a shotgun blast and ducked instinctively as
the shot whined past, barely missing his head.

Mark heard Merry screaming his name and
looked up to see Maxie standing at the top of the path with the
shotgun barrel pressed under her chin. The barrel burned into her
skin as she tried to jerk away from him. He had one arm around her
neck. Valentino broke free from Mark and ran haphazardly across the
heaving ground, stopping beside Maxie. She stood looking back at
them with rage and fear on her face.

“Merry!” Ramsay shouted and stood up, then
almost fell before taking a step forward.

“Hold, Brother Ramsay!” d’Brouchart shouted
at him.

“Yeah, hold, dipshit, or I’ll blow her head
clean off!” Maxie’s voice cut through the chaos.

“Give me the gun!” Valentino yelled at
Montague.

The Knight of the Holy City looked down at
the pistol and then back at the woman, shaking his head in the
negative. It was none of his business if these miserable people
killed each other. Ramsay snatched the pistol from him and threw it
across the space between them. Valentino picked it up and advanced
on d’Brouchart.

“Give me the staff!” she shouted at him as
he, too, backed away from her. She raised the pistol and Merry
screamed again, this time with a different tonal quality. She was
staring wild-eyed at something behind them.

The beleaguered group turned and beheld an
awesome sight as an immense white form slowly emerged from the
ground near the center of the hill. It was huge, larger than a
train engine and shaped, oddly enough, like a common grub worm. Its
skin was snow white and ribbed with grayish stripes. Hundreds of
centipede-like legs lined the length of its fat body and its head
appeared to be armor plated, resembling that of a rhinoceros
replete with a row of hooked horns down the center. On either side
of its head were long, black pinchers at least four feet in length
with the appearance of those found on a Rhinoceros beetle. They
watched in fascination as it reared on its hindmost legs and
sprayed a fine line of milky liquid from its mouth. The fluid
struck the ground, hissing and sizzling in a long, perfectly
straight line, cutting down through the rock like a powerful laser
beam.

Valentino glanced at the monstrosity, almost
fell and then quickly regained her footing before screaming at
d’Brouchart again.

“Give me the staff!” She raised the pistol
and pulled the trigger before he could react. The bullet struck
Montague in the shoulder spinning him around. Simon caught and held
him upright. She turned the pistol on Christopher Stewart, the next
available target. Christopher froze, staring at her in wonder
before sinning again in his heart. “Give it to me, now or the boy
dies!”

D’Brouchart shook his head. It was not an
option. He could relinquish the ancient artifact no matter what she
did.

She aimed the pistol at Christopher's head,
but was thrown off balance as another fissure opened in the ground
very near where the Knights stood. They moved away from it quickly
in terrified silence, oblivious to the threat of the pistol, when
another of the great white worms wiggled from the crack, seemingly
inflating as it rose from an impossibly small opening. This second
creature rose immediately on its rear legs and sprayed another line
of the milky liquid at right angles to the work of the first worm
before undulating away a few paces to repeat the process. The first
worm was busy making more lines of sizzling rock. The two beasts
were cutting the hill apart in a systematic grid pattern.

The first complete rectangular blocks rose
into the air very near to where they stood. Again, they moved away
from the strange sight, backing slowly toward the ugly man who
still stood, forgotten, holding the shotgun to Merry’s head. Mark
had temporarily forgotten about Maxie when the larger, more
immediate threat had appeared on the hilltop with them. The first
two white blocks of polished limestone rose into the air slowly
accompanied by deep rumbles from within the earth and then toppled
toward them, landing on their sides with tremendous crashes. Small
pieces of rock and debris flew into the air under the enormous
weight of the building stones. Small geysers of steam erupted from
the earth in several places at once. The Knights turned as a group,
taking the Master with them as they fled toward the shoulder of the
hill where the path started down toward the garden, ignoring Maxie
and Valentino’s shouted warnings to stay back.

Merry stomped on Maxie’s instep in the
ensuing confusion and broke free from his grip. The Knight of the
Apocalypse reached back for Mark as another tremor threatened to
throw them to the earth.

Mark Andrew looked directly into the eyes of
Konrad von Hetz and smiled. He winked at the German before breaking
from the group. He turned and made straight for the terrified
security guard with the golden sword held above his shoulder. Maxie
brought the shotgun around to fire at him just as he made a final
leap into the air. The second shot exploded from the barrel, but it
was too late. The shot passed cleanly under the Knight and rattled
off the hillside behind him. The Chevalier du Morte landed squarely
in front of the ugly man who had tormented him for the past several
days. He looked him briefly in the eyes and then grasped the sword
in both hands as the man struggled desperately to reload the
shotgun. Mark stepped forward, dipped slightly and then turned
completely around, bringing the edge of the sparkling blade just
above the level of the man’s shoulders.

The sword struck home and Maxie’s horrified
face disappeared along with his head down the side of the hill. His
decapitated body crumpled to the ground at Ramsay’s feet, spraying
a fine line of blood into the air. Mark Andrew raised the sword
again intending to stab the lifeless carcass in a fit of rage, but
was stopped by the sound of Merry screaming his name again in
terror.

The ground rocked and swayed violently,
throwing the Knights to the ground. Valentino screamed in rage
rather than terror, scrambled to her feet and charged the after the
Grand Master.

Turning to find her, he saw that another of
the great worms had emerged from the hole left by the first blocks.
Merry had begun to run in that direction, but now she was stopped a
few yards away, staring at the thing in terror, frozen in place,
while it worked its way up the bottom of the newly excavated slab,
polishing the exposed stone to a mirror finish with short,
cone-shaped blasts of the same volatile liquid. Christopher raced
toward her and dragged her away from the worm.

Valentino had caught up with d’Brouchart and
was struggling physically with the Grand Master, still trying to
take the baculus from him. The ground shuddered violently again
throwing them both to the ground. Simon stumbled along with
Montague leaning on his arm. Dambretti shouted something to von
Hetz and then tried to crawl across the ground toward the Grand
Master who was perilously close to the edge of the newly created,
steadily enlarging pit, where more and more blocks were being
quarried. The great beasts seemed to have no regard for the humans
on the hill. They went about their work as if nothing else existed,
blindly working completely without the aid of eyes. The Master hung
onto the baculus desperately with one hand as it dangled over the
edge of the pit. Valentino rose up on her knees and fired at
Dambretti. The bullet struck him in the leg and he rolled over on
the ground clutching his leg, cursing in Italian.

Von Hetz came alongside Ramsay then hurried
on toward the Master. He would take up where Dambretti had failed.
As he passed Ramsay, he shouted one word of warning.

“Beaujold!”

Ramsay turned quickly, in time to avoid being
split down the middle by the Knight of the Sword’s wicked silver
blade. He recovered his balance and charged in under the man’s
sword, grabbing hold of his legs, bringing him down heavily on his
back, knocking the breath from him. Ramsay pinned him to the ground
and sat on his stomach with his knee on the Knight’s wrist,
effectively preventing him from raising the sword again. He pulled
the bejeweled dagger from his pocket and looked down at the man who
would have his head in spite of everything. Beaujold’s sunken blue
eyes bespoke no regret, but held only hatred for him, even unto
death. He had several long cuts on his forehead, no doubt from
Maxie’s hospitality.

“Cry mercy or die!” Ramsay told him through
clenched teeth.

Beaujold did not beg mercy, but rather spat
at him instead. Ramsay raised the dagger to finish him and was
startled as someone grasped his arm, preventing the final blow from
falling. He looked up into the face of the Italian.

“Don’t do it, Brother!” Dambretti shouted at
him. “Don’t make his sin your sin.”

This simple statement made, Lucio let go of
his wrist and pressed his hand against his leg, before limping
away. Whatever Ramsay decided to do would be the Will of God and
Dambretti had done his share of work for the day. He was angry,
terrified and in pain. They could all go to hell in a handbasket
for all he cared.

Mark Andrew looked down at the man again and
then brought the hilt of the dagger down viciously, administering a
devastating blow to the side of the Knight’s head instead of
killing him. The blue eyes rolled back and he felt the man go limp
under him. Mark Andrew pushed himself up and picked up the silver
sword which lay next to the unconscious Knight of the Sword.
Perhaps he would have to kill him later, but now was not the time.
He turned without letting up the pressure on the Knight’s wrist and
surveyed the havoc behind him.

More and more slabs of rock were being pushed
out of the hill. The ground shook and reverberated with the sounds
of the blocks crashing to their sides. At least a dozen of the
worms had emerged from the earth and were busily polishing the
rough undersides of the quarried blocks. Mark was fascinated
momentarily by the sight of the finished limestone building blocks,
ready to be placed into use.

The Master was still struggling to hold onto
the baculus as he slipped closer and closer to the brink of the
pit. Von Hetz attempted to hold onto the Grand Master’s legs and
avoid Valentino’s pistol while she struggled with him for
possession of the staff, intent upon wrenching it from the Master’s
grip. Half of her body was hanging precariously over the side of
the pit as she held onto the ivory staff with one hand and tried to
get a clear shot at von Hetz with the other. She screamed and lost
the pistol as her body slipped over the brink and she was forced to
grab the staff with both hands. Von Hetz reached haphazardly over
the edge of the pit and tried to grab her hand while D’Brouchart
desperately grappled on the loose rock for a handhold as he was
inexorably dragged further over the side into the gaping hole by
the Cecile’s weight dangling from the ivory staff. Mark Andrew went
to their aid and knelt beside the Apocalyptic Knight who had
managed to get hold of the staff, easing some of the weight from
the Master’s arm. They reached out together to Valentino and she
grasped the German’s hand, but refused to let go of the baculus
with the other.

“Take my hand!” Ramsay shouted to her as she
dangled between the staff and side of the pit.

She looked up at him in shocked horror before
letting go of the staff long enough to grab his hand. The ground
lurched against them as one of the worms started climbing the
terraced steps cut into the pit directly below them with one of the
cut blocks balanced on its long pinchers. The ground shook
continuously as the creatures flipped the blocks back and forth,
polishing the surfaces. Von Hetz and Ramsay clung to the slippery
rock face while Valentino hung suspended against the wall just
below them. The thin veneer of topsoil, loose sandy pebbles and
sprigs of grass fell into her face, making it difficult for her to
see them and vice versa. Another of the cutting creatures in the
pit rose up and began to spray a line of the acidic liquid along
the face of the wall below them, cutting the bottom surfaces of
what would be a new row of blocks. The two Knights fought to drag
the woman up and out of the way, but they couldn’t get enough
traction against the slippery, smooth surface of the stone on which
they lay without tumbling in after her. Valentino screamed as the
acid crossed her back just below her waist and then her grip went
limp in their hands. They both tried to hang onto her, but saw
there was no hope as the lower half of her body was neatly severed
from the top half.