The Centaur (30 page)

“You are the Dove and yet, you are not the Dove. What has happened to the Dove? Did you consume him?” The female voice asked this question.

“Ohhhhh. I see. The Dove! Of course. No, no,” Mark suddenly realized what they were talking about. “I didn’t consume him. He is my son.”

“Your… son. One moment please.”  When they moved, he could see them quite clearly as they blocked everything behind them from view. The green form was the male and the dark or empty place was the female. They seemed to merge or swirl around each other and then part again as they conferred with one another.

“
Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me
.”  The male quoted a passage from the Old Testament. “Do you recognize these words?”

“I do.”

“Then allow me to modify them to fit this time. Let your son go, that we may serve him.”

“You want to serve my son? Why?” Mark folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the cabinet.

“He is responsible for our freedom. We must serve him to show our gratitude and respect. He has told us a great task awaits him in a foreign land.”

“Have you heard it said
whosoever serveth the Father, serveth the Son and whosoever serveth the Son, serveth the Father
?” Mark raised one eyebrow. “
For whosoever shall serve any child of God shall serve God
.”

“One moment, please.” Again, he watched as they consulted with one another.

When they separated the female spoke to him this time.

“We have not heard these words, but we have not heard all there is which should be heard and for that we beg your indulgence. These words you speak hold much reasoning and seem in concordance with the words of the Father, which we have heard spoken aforetimes. We believe you are of God, the Father, Who created
all things, for you speak in terms of reasoning and you speak with conviction of heart and you speak with knowledge of the Law. Furthermore, you have the appearance of the Dove, and the sound of the Dove, and the smell of the Dove, therefore, you must be of the Dove. In the absence of the Dove, we will serve you, but when the Dove has returned to his place, then we will serve him. Is this agreeable to you?”

“It is.” Mark smiled.

“What would you ask of us, Master?”

“I would be honored to know the names by which my servants are called.”

“We are Urim and we are Thummin, special messengers of God. Emissaries of Divine Protection. Agents of Divine Retribution.”

Mark Andrew tried not to allow the shock to register in his face in visible form. The Urim and Thummin. Released from their crystal prisons? What manner of folly was this? Were these not the very same who had slain, without thought, the first born of Egypt? The very same who had brought on the ten plagues that made the great Pharaoh release the Hebrews from bondage in the land of Goshen? Those same two, who were imprisoned by the jealous god and made into instruments of ritual magick by the high priests of the line of Aaron? Surely he had missed a great deal in his slumbers.

“Tell me more about the great challenge my son faces in the foreign land,” Mark Andrew said, trying to remain calm.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

“That is exactly what I mean, my son. It will be up to us to entrap the great Huber in the vessel made by magick and cast her into the eternal freeze of space.”

Omar’s shoulders drooped as
the looked at the iron and copper ring on his finger. How would he ever be able to do such a thing?

“It is a simple and yet most effective means of containing evil spirits. You must stop thinking of her as your Ruth. She is not Ruth no more than Yasmin is Jasmine. Cast these thoughts from your mind, my son and forget that the visage she wears belonged to another. She is evil and you will know this when you see her.”

“But why must I see her, father? Why? Can you not take this burden from me? Ruth meant less to you than to me. She is the mother of my son.”

Omar’s stomach turned over yet again at the thought of facing Huber.

Lemarik sank onto his knees and sat back on his heels in front of his son.

“Give me the ring,” he held out his hand. “Give me the ring and I will do it. I can deny you nothing. If you are unwilling to face this thing, then I will face it for you.”

Omar raised his head and looked into his father’s eyes. The first light of dawn was peeking over the eastern horizon. The elves were sleeping in small piles and heaps all around them. The fires burned low and only the sounds of the horses and camels carrying the mounted watchmen broke the still night air just before dawn. As his father capitulated, he realized the truth of his words.

“No. You are right. It is my duty to do this thing. I will not ask you to do what I must do. You gave me this life. My grandmother gave me refuge in my time of need. My grandfather gave me back my body. My uncle gave me good advice. My sister fights on my behalf. I should be proud to do my part. I have been looking at this problem from a purely selfish point of view. It would be only right for me to avenge my wife’s abuser. She suffered at the hands of the Ancient Evil while she lived, and she continues to be defiled by his filth,” Omar smiled and stood up.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

The news was slow in coming from the east and the south. The British Isles were intact. The islands to the west of the Irish Sea were safe, suffering no more than a few severe bouts of unseasonably cold weather and then unreasonably strong storms, riding on each others’ heels. Apparently none of the monstrous chunks of flaming rock and ice fell into the North Atlantic. What scientific news they had came from Bavaria where de Goth’s people had a fairly decent complex of weather and tactical support systems set up across central Europe with a surprising number of satellite connections. Something that the good Baron de Goth had kept under wraps, but with the Baron’s fate unknown, his people had set out immediately to contact the only allies they could be sure would not turn on them. Several of his commanders and three mayors had arrived in Scotland with a sizable company of soldiers, well-equipped and ready for action.

Both the Queen of the Brits and the Queen of the Franks had left the day before de Goth’s forces arrived; each of them leaving Scotland regretfully empty of news of from the east. Mark had persuaded Queen Meredith to return to London and take up her duties again in order to keep the nation from falling into disarray before King Luke could return from the eastern campaign. Oriel had been harder to persuade and would not listen to Mark at all. She wanted to go the underworld, find Il Dolce Mio and demand he tell her the fate of the Templars. In the end, Merry was able to persuade her to return to France to preserve what Louis had accomplished and to continue in his stead until he returned. Certainly, both Kings would wish their Queens to keep the faith and the countries entrusted to them intact regardless of their fates.

The Baron’s people had only added to their growing despair. News of the impacts in the Indian and Pacific Oceans were somewhat of a relief and yet, no reliable news had come from anywhere east of the Bosporus.  Nicole spent a great deal of time, tagging after Mark Andrew, and he couldn’t shake her off. She knew something was going on and had demanded to know what it was. Unlike Sophia, Nicole was not so easy to fool, unless she wanted to be. At last, she followed Mark
Andrew down the bricked path to the stone monument in the center of Simon’s flowerbeds.

“Daddy, wait,” she called after him and clutched her woolen cloak to her throat. The wind whipped across the compound in gloomy gusts, blowing in more ragged clouds from the west. Mark Andrew turned and waited for her. She ran down the walk and took his arm, snuggling against his shoulder as they walked toward the expanse of brown grass beyond the bricks. “Where are you going?”

“Down to the river,” he patted her gloved hand. “You’d best go on back to the house now, lassie. Keep the fires burning for me. It’s going to be cold tonight.”

“Why are you going to the river?” She made no move to follow his request and he slowed his pace.

“I need to check some things.”

“Daddy, look.” Nicole stopped him in his tracks with her tone and turned him toward her. “You know you can’t continue to lie to me. I know something has happened to you.  I think you know by now I am not the Nicole I used to be. I want to help you, Daddy. I want to be a part of your life. You took Luke in. Why won’t you at least give me a chance to prove myself to you? You have no idea how much it means to me.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to me. I’ve seen enough to know you’re trustworthy, and your father would be proud of you. But I’m not who you think I am.”

“Are you saying you are not my father?” She asked him point blank. “Are you going on with the charade that you are someone entirely different… what is it that Sophia said? You are the Mark who would have been, if my father had not possessed him at birth? Would that make you my brother then?”

“Did she say that?” Mark Andrew smiled. “That sounds a bit far-fetched. If I am your brother, then where is our father?”

“You know what I mean. Are you Sophia’s Mark or not? The one from New Babylon. You were like a baby then and she taught you everything. Are you the one?”

“I am
not
the one. I don’t know how to explain it. I have been asleep. I woke up.”

“So when Mark was a baby, you possessed him?”

“Yes and no.”

“So it is you!”

Nicole jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly, throwing him completely off guard.

“This is wonderful,” she said breathlessly when she let him go again. “Now that you’re back, we can set up the lab again, start making gold…. You know gold will always be gold… we can make enough together to get the Order going again and you can be the Master… form your own branch, like de Goth. We can make Scotland a great nation, stronger and richer even than Britain. You can be king! I’ll be your little princess and Sophia can be your queen. And… and… Luke can be a prince.
We’ll have allies in Britain and France already, and you know you already have a bluff in on Corrigan, so Ireland will be no problem. Little Simon loves you and would never stand against you and he carries a lot of weight with Oriel… ooooh, she’s such a brat! We can court de Goth’s people while they’re here and start setting up a new international coalition. And if I play my cards right, I can talk Galipoli into settling down here. We could have a grand wedding and put all these gloomy times behind us. But we’ll need to find out what has happened to the others. Luke Andrew… I need to speak with him, of course, and Lucio, naturally and…”

“Hold on.” Mark put one finger to her lips. “When did you become a politician?”

“I’m not a politician, Daddy; I just want to live a normal life. Have a family. I want to raise my own children. I know disappointed you and Uncle Luke and mother, but if you would only give me the chance…”

“I need to go down to the river,” he told her in a flat, emotionless voice.

Nicole stopped and her expression changed to one of disappointment momentarily, but then her expression changed again as she perceived a gray clad figure approaching them from the woods.

“Mr.
Barshak,” Nichole narrowed her eyes. “I … sent him away.”

“He said he was leaving, but I see that he has returned.” Mark’s expression did not flicker.

She had not sent him away. She couldn’t send him away now. He had taken on a solid form and was now beyond her control.

“Hello there!”
Barshak waved to them. His white hair whipped about his face and his large, gray eyes twinkled with new life. Every time he saw them, he was stronger. “Nice weather.”

“Some would beg to differ with you on that.” Mark Andrew nodded and returned the smile briefly. “Been fishing?”

“No, not fishing. Just looking. Looking and searching. Seeking and finding. Wandering and wondering.” The enigmatic creature that, by now, looked very much like an ordinary human being except for the strange clothing he wore. “You are also looking and searching, my friend.”

He held out his hand and clasped Mark Andrew’s arm in a close shake wherein each gripped the other’s upper arm and used the free hand to pat the opposite shoulder. Nicole frowned at the sight of her father receiving this odd fellow in such an intimate manner. It was obvious that they knew each other from times long passed.

“Nicole, won’t you go on back now? I’ll take… Mr. Barshak with me. We’ll be fine. There’s no need to fret. We’ll see what your soldier’s intentions are when I return. I’m sure we can work out something to everyone’s liking.”

“I’m not fretting, Daddy.” Nicole stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “I want to be a part of whatever it is you are doing. Are you forgetting it was I who brought your friend, Mr.
Barshak, here? If I were not worth something as a sorceress myself, would you not still be lying on the cold ground?”

“True, true.” Mark smiled at her. “Dunna be
gettin’ yur dander up, lassie. Come on with us then, if ye’re a moind.”