Valkeryn 2: The Dark Lands (33 page)

‘HUA!’ The new Deltas started to pound a single fist against the ceramic plating over their chests.

General Langstrom stepped forward.

‘Okay Bannock, Captain Henson’s got his war party – lead them in, and show ‘em hell.’

Bannock saluted the General and then turned back to the squad. ‘Secure all loose items – it’s a tornado in there. On my six; let’s move.’ He pulled his goggles down over his eyes and the squad did the same.

‘Fight or die.’ Bannock roared the words, spun and then ran through the cross tunnel into the acceleration chamber.

His jaws clenched when he saw the rent in space and time. The portal was an ugly red and filled the chamber. His feet lifted from the ground before he was within ten feet of the distortion perimeter – his body stretched and then disappeared.

Two-by-two, the Deltas followed, many carrying boxes of ammunition and other weapons of war. They elongated like ribbons and then disappeared.

Harper turned to the general. ‘What happens if we lose? What happens if it’s the creatures that come back through instead of our soldiers?’

Langstrom snorted. ‘You said we’ve probably only got about forty-eight hours… so I reckon it’ll be a good joke on them to own the Earth on the day it gets ripped to shreds.’

Harper’s face was white as he turned away. ‘Then, God go with them all.’

*

Teacher stood with Sorenson at the edge of the sea. The Great Lakes had combined and w
idened, and all their rivers and tributaries now poured into one vast inland ocean which disappeared over the horizon.

Arn pointed to the south. ‘Valkeryn is that way.’

Teacher nodded. ‘Okay. First thing we need is something to keep us out of the water. He turned. ‘Weng, put that laser cutter to use. We need a boat big enough for all of us.’

Sorenson was staring out to the west. He raised his head as though trying to catch a scent. He spoke without turning, his eyes on the horizon. ‘We need two boats. One for you humans, and one big enough for a single Wolfen.’

‘Huh?’ Teacher spun. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

Sorenson exhaled slowly. ‘I need to find the Far Wolfen. Without them you don’t stand a chance.’

‘If they exist.’ Arn responded.

Sorenson nodded. ‘Yes, if they exist. But I believe Odin has led me to this point for a reason. And he will guide me further, if that is his wish.’

Grimson came and stood by Arn. ‘Noble Sorenson, you will find them… and you will bring them.’

Arn jumped at the ground-shaking thump as a huge tree fell to the ground, felled by the laser cutter. Weng blinked several times from the blinding white light beam. The metallic rod in his hand was like a flashlight without the bulb end, and just a pencil-sized hole that emitted the condensed light. He repositioned himself at one end of the log and set to shaping it, and then hollowing it out, the laser cutting and searing huge chunks of bark. The beam also heat-sealed the wood and resin, making the vessel waterproof.

Weng stopped and stood back to admire his work. Two flat-bottomed canoe-like boats – one large enough for the Deltas, Arn and Grim, and the other a single person craft for Sorenson – sat where before there had been nothing.

Brown walked around the large boat, looking inside. ‘Hey Weng; what do we sit on?’

‘Your ass, dimwit. You think I’m going to build in bunk beds for you as well?’ He held up a finger. ‘But it does come with one important modification…’ Weng moved to the stern, where he had created a small indentation in the wood. He fitted one of the portable propulsion units onto it.

‘Turbo propulsion… maximum speed about fifty knots, give or take.’

Sorenson looked at his own boat, feeling along the lines. ‘Very good job, Warrior Weng. Are there paddles?’

Teacher shook his head. ‘No, you get one of the propulsion units as well.’

Weng’s mouth dropped open. ‘Boss, that’s our backup. If we…’

‘Give it to him.’

Weng’s mouth snapped shut. ‘Sir.’

He fitted the small boat with the powerful propulsion unit and then stood back waving Sorenson over. He took several minutes to run through the simple instructions with the Wolfen. He didn’t bother with any maintenance or refueling advice, because if it stopped and he wasn’t near the shore, he was as good as dead.

‘Okay, just remember, these things are powerful. Take it easy, or you’ll be airborne.’

Sorenson ran a test, blowing sand fifty feet back and out into the jungle. He nodded and smiled.

‘The fantastic machines of the Ancients.’

The team quickly packed the boats with as much food as they could find. Sorenson pushed his own smaller craft to the water’s edge, and then came back and got down on one knee before Grimson.

‘Be safe young prince.’ He held out his sword. ‘My life for you, Grimson, son of Grimvaldr.’

Arn almost felt himself choking up at the bravery and sacrifice of this noble race. Grimson stood taller, Arn noticing he seemed to lengthen and fill out more by the minute. The prince placed his hand on Sorenson’s shoulder.

‘Stand, Wolfen Elite of Valkeryn. I will see you on the battlefield at the rise of the moon this morrow.’

Sorenson nodded and smiled. ‘On the bloody fields of Valkeryn or in Valhalla, Prince Grimson. We will have blood.’

Grimson banged his fist against Sorenson’s chest. ‘We will have rivers of blood, and Mogahrr’s head on a pike.’ He roared, and for the first time Arn noticed it wasn’t the sound of a youth anymore, but the battle cry of a full grown Wolfen.

Sorenson responded, throwing his own head back, their roars rolling out across the lake. He bowed, and then without another word, leapt into the small boat, and started the propulsion unit. A rooster’s tail of spray kicked up, and the bow lifted high as it took off like a jet boat. In another few minutes he was a mere dot on the horizon.

Arn watched for a few minutes and then nodded. ‘Good. While we move at speed we may be safe from whatever is below the surface.’

Teacher placed the last of the supplies into the boat. ‘Then let’s get moving. We’re running out of time.’

*

They stayed in sight of the land, the large flat-bottomed boat pushing forward at around forty knots. Behind them a column of black smoke rose from the jungle, the one-kiloton incendiary bomb making the air still shimmer over the massive trees. After the percussion wave had passed by them, Teacher nodded, confident that the land above the military bunker would now be a scab of molten rock and slag, and impenetrable to any of the local tribes.

The still dawn made for a glass-like surface on the water and they were able to spot any turbulence easily. As well, several pairs of keen eyes directed Weng away from anything large they saw breaching the surface.

At one point, all the Deltas shouldered their nearly empty rifles at the water as something the size of a blue whale passed smoothly underneath them on its way along the shoreline. Leaning over the side, Arn saw it roll slightly and one large bulbous eye swiveled to look briefly back at him, before the monstrous thing rolled again and continued on to the shallows.

Arn was the only one who still refused to put on his CL suit. After so long wearing nothing but his own skin, the thought of the restrictive material made him cringe. Simms had told him it felt light as a feather and allowed the skin to breathe, but for Arn, the tight-fitting elasticized body armour would remain rolled up in his pack until a last resort.

He looked at each of the Deltas as they stood at different points on the boat, their hawk-like eyes focused on the water’s surface; each of them was professional, lethal, and in their suits, a visual cross between Iron Man and a speed skater. Behind him, Grimson sat silent. Arn had tried to engage him in conversation but the youth had said little more than a word or two since they set out, preferring to be in company of his own thoughts.

They travelled throughout the morning, the sun lifting from the horizon, then rising high, and then starting to ease off into the west. The afternoon rolled on, and Arn started to feel cramps and stiffness in his muscles as he held himself in place in the moving boat, remaining ever alert to the giants that he knew existed in the lake’s aquamarine depths.

It was late afternoon when, above the massive jungle banyans, they could see the color of the jagged cliff tops. A few hours back, the opposite shoreline had appeared, and now the mighty lake was narrowing, with the movement of water obvious as it headed into a massive river cave far in the distance.

Weng slowed the boat as it headed towards the cliffs. There were multiple caves, some just big enough for the boat to fit, and one large enough to fly a 747 passenger jet inside.

‘Any guesses?’ Teacher looked around at the faces, stopping at Arn and Grimson, obviously hoping their experience gave them more insight than the newcomers. Grimson didn’t look up
and Arn just shrugged.

‘Bigger is better,’ said Teacher. ‘The main cave it is then. Okay people, go to lights. Brown, I want you on thermal… Simms, give me motion detection. Let’s keep alert and try to punch through, however long this takes.’

Brown adjusted the lens on his suit. ‘Let’s hope it goes all the way through, and doesn’t stop at a dead end.’

They passed under the huge lip of stone. Alison Sharp switched on her flashlight. ‘What’s up big fella – you don’t like cave-dives?’

Brown grinned. ‘Sure, in the Bahamas, but not in freaking Jurassic Park.’

Weng kept the speed down to ten knots, the craft moving in to the growing darkness as they left the opening. In another twenty minutes the only sound came from invisible dripping, and the low purr of the propulsion unit. All conversation had ceased, and senses and nerves were stretched tight.

Arn looked up; the cave was enormous, and the walls glistened with bioluminescent lichens and mosses. Though they had heard or seen nothing, the sensation of ‘life’ all around them was steadily growing.

‘Take it down a few more knots.’ Teacher raised a small black flashlight to give him a different angle. Coming up, and just above the water level, there was a shelf of stone, fifty feet across, and better yet, dry.

‘Weng, pull in over there. Let’s stretch our legs for ten.’

As they neared, Teacher turned and motioned for Weng to cut the engine. He kept his hand raised, staying motionless as the boat drifted in close. Everybody froze, as Teacher just listened.

Arn leaned closer to Grimson. The Wolfen’s malaise was gone and he was now
as alert as the rest of them, his ears moving back and forth. ‘Grim, you’ve got better senses than us… anything?’

His ears flickered. ‘No, yes… something, but I can’t…’ he shrugged. ‘No, not sure; I think it’s okay.’

Teacher was the first onto the shelf and he immediately turned to pull the bow up a few feet. He held on for a few seconds as the Deltas jumped out followed by Arn and Grimson. The soldiers scattered to the platform edges, guns up, and held their position, scanning the environment for a few seconds, before lowering their weapons, straightening and simply stretching their backs, or rolling their shoulders.

Sharp had her back arched, squeezing out her words. ‘Jesus, that feels good.’

‘Stinks, like a drain.’ Brown wrinkled his nose.

Sharp shook her head. ‘I smelt it, yeah, but more like stale almonds or something.’

‘Over here.’ Weng was at the far edge of the rock platform, shining his light into an alcove. ‘Looks like a body – pretty old.’

They crowded round. It was a skeleton, with parchment-dry skin stretched over the bones. The skull, long snout and old skin pulled back over teeth gave it a permanent snarl. A rusted sword was still gripped in one hand.

Grimson narrowed his eyes. ‘Brother Wolfen.’

Simms squatted. ‘In here – how? The bones are all broken, and he’s wrapped in some sort of …’

‘No, just the leg and anklebones. Like he fell or jumped off something.’ Brown fingered the threads coating the shattered legs.

‘Or was dropped.’ Teacher spun, sighting his rifle into the air. ‘Back to the boat… now!’

Arn looked up in time to see strands of silk unraveling above them. Fist-sized blobs of glistening fluid were at their ends, and above, hidden in the darkness, something unseen was lowering them with unerring aim.

‘Don’t let them touch you.’ Teacher grabbed the bow of the boat, ur
ging them on.

The Deltas crouched as they ran. Brown turned to spray some of his last rounds up into the roof of the cavern – the response was the sound of ricochets on stone far above them, followed by an unearthly squeal.

One after the other they piled into the boat, Weng clambering over the others as he made his way to the rear and started the propulsion engine. Sharp dived in last, and as she went to hunker down her eyes went wide.

‘Oh no,’ She arched her back and then began to spasm. ‘Christ, it’s on me, it’s on me!’

There was an elastic stretching sound, and suddenly she was dragged back through the crush of bodies, and then astonishingly, started to lift out of the boat.

‘No today, beautiful.’ Brown dived, taking her around the waist. She dropped back to the boat, but the cord stayed attached. ‘It’s trying to reel her in.’

Arn pointed. ‘They’re hiding in the dark above us.’

Grimson stayed low, but his eyes were darting along the cavern ceiling.  ‘There are lots of them, and they’re all stuck to the ceiling, but crawling now to get over the top of us.’

Teacher shone his lights above them, and in return dozens of glistening eyes were reflected back at him. The multiple orbs were crowded together in three-foot wide bunches. Whatever was staring down were big, had plenty of eyes, and all of them focused on the Deltas.

Sharp screamed as the cord went tight again. She slid, and this time Brown’s boots started to drag along the boat. ‘It’s too strong.’

More cords started to lower towards them, and a second sticky blob landed on Sharp’s arm with a wet slap. It immediately pulled her hand back from where sh
e held onto Brown.