“We will listen,” Tam Nok said.
“I warned them!” He stopped and smiled, transforming his entire face into an old, gentle man. “They called me Lailoken. They called me other names. Later. Myrddin. When I was with another King. Have you heard that name?”
“Myrddin?” Penarddun’s voice quavered.
“Yes.”
“Merlin in the new tongue,” Penarddun said.
“I prefer Lailoken. It is the name my mother and father gave me. Sometimes the languages get confused in my hand. I know many languages and have been to many lands. But you-” he pointed at Tam Nok- “you are something new.”
His voice changed once more and became manic. “I told the King. The first King. I told him about the dragons. One red. One white. Fighting, fighting, fighting. All the time. And that’s why his walls collapsed. He could not build his castle.”
“King Vortigen?” Penarddun asked.
The old man nodded.
“Vortigen ruled over five hundred years ago,” Penarddun said in a lower voice to Tam Nok and Ragnarok.
“It was a long time ago,” Lailoken acknowledged. “I told him of the dragons under Dinas Emrys. The red and white. And if he drained the pool, the dragons would come out and he could build his castle. Of course, I also told him that the white dragon would kill the red. And since his symbol was the red dragon, he did not take this news well. But he was not a believer. The white, ahh-” Lailoken trailed off.
“The white was the line of Artor- Arthur,” Penarddun whispered.
“Yes. But there was more to the prophecy,” Lailoken said. “All people remember is Artor and the table and the stories of the sword and the warriors in their armor. And even now most don’t think it was true. But those things were not important. What was important is I saw the future. I saw the Shadow coming once more. I wanted them to prepare. To stop fighting among themselves.”
“The Shadow?” Tam Nok pressed.
His eyes closed and he pressed his hands against the side of his head. “Darkness coming out of the Earth. A wall of darkness. And out of the darkness death and suffering for all. The earth itself will shatter, fire will come forth. There will be a deadly rain that will kill the beasts and all the plants. All life. The witches, three sisters, will come first, to clear the way.”
That struck a chord with Ragnarok. “The Valkyries?”
“Valkyries?” Lailoken. “In your land, they are called that. Witches. Demonesses. Succubesses. Hand maidens of the devil. Forerunners of the darkness. Whatever.” Lailoken suddenly sat down, the staff across his knees. “I am tired. And hungry. I have traveled far to be here.”
“Why?” Tam Nok asked as she pulled some dried meat and stale bread from her pack and handed it to the old man.
Lailoken’s voice lightened once more. “Why am I tired? Because I traveled far. Why am I hungry? Because I ate little while I traveled. Why did I travel far? Because I needed to get here.”
Tam Nok was very patient. “Why are you here?”
Lailoken stuffed his mouth with bread and flecks came out of his mouth when he answered. “To meet you, of course. At least I think it is you I am supposed to meet. I am not so sure of things now as I used to be.”
Ragnarok frowned. The old man looked like a beggar- except for the staff- and he spoke like a crazy man. He had seen such before, living on the edge of a village, begging for food, babbling about all sorts of nonsense. There were some who believed the crazy to be the mouthpieces of the Gods, but Ragnarok thought they were just broken people.
Tam Nok shoot him a dirty look, as if she knew what he was thinking, then she sat next to the old man. “Lailoken, please tell me why were you seeking us?”
“To help you.” He shoved a piece of dried meat into his mouth.
“How?” Tam Nok asked.
Lailoken laughed, spewing pieces of half-chewed meat. “How? How should I know? You should know. What help do you need?”
Tam Nok’s voice was patient. “We need to lift the memory stone at Stonehenge.”
Ragnarok snorted. “We need to survive the attacks of the Valkyries first.”
“It was not called Stonehenge when it was built. And it was not built for your people-” Lailoken pointed a finger at Penarddun- “to dance around and worship.”
“Why was it built?” Tam Nok asked.
Lailoken shrugged. “I have forgotten. It was before even my time.” Lailoken held up the staff. “This will help you do both things you desire.” He tossed it toward Ragnarok and the Viking, despite his surprise, caught it with one hand. It was deceptively light. The shaft was not wood but a material he had never felt before but he sensed was very strong. He held the spear in front of his face. The head was a foot long from the point and spreading to a width of eight inches at the base. Ragnarok reached to test the edge with a finger, but halted as Lailoken hissed a warning.
“Don’t do that. You’ll slice your finger off and not know until it is on the ground in front of you.”
Ragnarok pulled his other hand back. The edge did appear to be very sharp. He flipped the staff and looked at the carved figure. A seven-headed snake, the likes of which he had never seen before. He heard of such from his mother, a creature called a hydra.
“That can open the memory stone?” Tam Nok asked.
“So I have been told and so I tell,” Lailoken said.
“Who told you?” Tam Nok asked. “The Ones Before?”
Lailoken’s hand paused on the way to his mouth with a load of bread. “Ones Before?” He seemed to be deep in thought for several seconds. “They want to help, but they can’t come here like the Valkyries can. Not anymore. Long ago, long ago, they could. Many changes. Things they don’t even understand so I do not pretend to understand.” His voice changed tone, becoming sing-song. “So they told me. Told others. Gave us signs. Sent messages. But many didn’t listen. Don’t listen.”
“If we take you to the stone,” Tam Nok said, “will you open it for us? We will listen, I promise.”
Lailoken leaned over until he was lying on his side. “Yes. I will open the Stone. But first I must sleep.”
Chapter 15
The first thing Dane was aware of was that there were others around him. Alive. He reached out with his mind- Sin Fen and Ariana very close. Pushing further, he picked up DeAngelo’s swirling dreams. They were all unconscious.
Dane sat up and opened his eyes. It was cold and pitch black. There was not even the slightest bit of light for his eyes to adjust to. He remembered the flashlight Ariana had had. He reached down and got on his hands and knees.
He touched a body and checked vital signs. Pulse was good and as far as he could tell by feel, nothing was broken. From the mental impressions he was receiving, he knew the body was Ariana.
He continued with his search and given the small size of the sphere came across Sin Fen’s unconscious form a few seconds later. Dane did a quick medical survey of her also, as he had been taught three decades ago in special forces training and had reinforced with his years of search and rescue experience. Sin Fen also seemed to be battered but not broken. Dane paused before continuing to look for the flashlight. He reached up and placed his hands on either side of her head.
He focused his mind. The surrounding darkness and silence helped, reducing his sensory inputs to just the grating under his knees and the head between his hands.
Dane saw a massive, flat-topped pyramid. It was large, over five hundred feet high, made of black stone, reminding Dane of one he had seen in Mexico, but larger than that, even larger than the Great Pyramid in Egypt. The stone glistened in the sunlight.