“What was down there?” Isaiah commented softly and more to himself.
…Whump… Whump… Whump…
The Semtex continued to fire off.
…Whump… Whump… Whump…
Dust began to roll like a sandstorm across the desert floor in all directions, the dust thick and cloying. The visibility was becoming problematic with the closest thing to them nothing but vague shadows.
They coughed and swiped uselessly at the air as if to clear some space for clean breathing. At best it was a futile attempt as dust clouds swept in.
When things began to settle and the world became less brown and vague, the Knights of the Holy Order went to the edge of the crater. What was once an incline was now a hole of at least forty feet deep. Whatever hollow was beneath that was filled to capacity.
The men were summarily stunned as they stood along the edge looking downward. The hole was massive.
“A little Semtex goes a long way,” said Nehemiah.
“Apparently,” replied Job.
Leviticus checked his watch. The chopper was minutes out. “Gear up, fellas. Time to bug out.”
They went to grab their gear.
Within the dark niches of the temple of Edin, the Megalania Priscas who had gorged themselves into a state of digestive inertia, or those finding refuge from the apex predator, became agitated as the temple walls shook. This wasn’t like before during marginal shifts, but more catastrophic.
Numerous cracks raced across the walls and the ceiling of the black silica, the crushing pressure of a concussive explosive so powerful that it killed the majority of the lizards instantly. Others died when the walls and ceiling collapsed, the entire area imploding inward and downward, the creatures incapable of finding any kind of refuge.
When it was over and done with, the temple was destroyed along with the creatures that had been indigenous to the area for tens of thousands of years.
Eden was gone.
The apex predator swung its raptor-like claw at Savage’s feet and missed, the point of its talon scoring the rock below him with a deep groove.
Alyssa gave all she had to move as quickly as she could, but her Herculean effort wasn’t enough as she fell short, the Prisca quickly closing the gap.
Savage swung the blade of his KA-BAR, the point striking and dragging across the snout of the lizard, making a score of his own. The Megalania Prisca roared and shook its wide frill in agitation. It swung its talon once again, and once again scored the stone.
The opening was fifteen feet away. The sun had almost set.
And then a series of muffled pops sounded off in the distance.
…Whump… Whump… Whump…
The cavern began to tremble violently as concussive waves rippled their way through, shaking the area with the intensity of a high-scale earthquake. Stones within the walls began to loosen, dust from the ceiling cascaded downward, and the earth began to shift.
John lost his knife, the KA-BAR bouncing and skipping off the rocks and landing by a grouping of stalagmites. With his free hand he grabbed a hold of stones not completely stable against the wall. Alyssa hugged herself close to the wall as pebbles and stones peppered her from above.
The waves grew worse. And then the instability of the stones and the weight of the beast were too much for the wall to handle. The rocks gave way and the beast fell, the predator peeling away from the wall and falling to the floor below.
Since the tips of the stalactites were blunted they did not impale the creature, but snapped like chalk sticks beneath its weight as it landed on them. Shaking its head to gather itself, it then looked up at Alyssa and Savage and cried out in bestial rage.
Then the ceiling cracked and separated as running fissures raced across the earthen ceiling above them. Chunks of rock began to fall, the earth imploding from above and pouring downward like the sands of an hourglass.
The creature roared as it was being buried alive, its anger gone as self-preservation kicked in. Sand and stone poured downward, the roof of the cavern collapsing as Alyssa Moore and John Savage continued to cling tightly against the wall.
The only thing visible of the creature was its head, the rest buried as the level of the sand continued to sift downward to cover the creature in its entirety. It squirmed. It cried out. It did all it could do to pry itself free.
And then the entire ceiling gave, the weight of countless tons falling on the creature and snuffing out its life.
When the earth stopped shaking, Alyssa opened her eyes. What was once an opening the size of a manhole was now the rim of a crater. She could see the entire sky, and the transition of colors that marked the moment of an approaching sunset. At that moment she thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
They labored and finally made it to the surface. John aided Alyssa onto level ground far from the crater’s edge. “Are you all right?” he asked.
She fell into his embrace. And John Savage gladly accepted her. He then gazed off to the horizon. It was going to be next to impossible to walk through the desert with Alyssa and her injury — the distance incredibly far, especially with no water.
She pulled back from him. “Now what? You know I can’t walk.”
“Then I’ll carry you. Maybe we’ll get lucky and come across shepherds or something.”
She feigned a sad smile. “Thank you, John. Thank you for not leaving me behind when you could have.”
“I told you. I’m a man. And men are irrational.” Her sad smile was replaced by a real one. “All right,” he said. “I can carry you on my back through the night. It’ll be cooler that way—”
“You won’t have to carry her at all,” said a voice from behind.
When Savage turned to confront the voice, he saw a heavily armed contingent of soldiers.
Leviticus was angry beyond words. He had been assured that no one was going to get hurt in the mission but certain aspects of the assignment had been omitted by papal intention.
When the chopper lifted them to safety and Alyssa’s ankle had been attended to, Savage explained everything to Leviticus regarding the temple of Eden from the moment of his agreement to follow through with Alyssa’s assassination to the moment of their escape. He left nothing out.
Leviticus looked at Alyssa, and then leaned forward into Savage’s ear. “I see you missed your target,” he whispered, smiling lasciviously. “Especially when she’s ten feet away from you.” When he spoke he did so in jest, taking a jab at Savage.
Savage smiled. “Loyalty above all else,” he said, “except honor.” And then: “You were right, Leviticus. There’s more than just duty to others. There’s also duty to one’s self.”
He agreed. “To know the difference between right and wrong, John, is to know honor.”
Savage looked at Alyssa, who was toying with the bandages around her ankle. She was oblivious to their discussion. “Pope Leo was wrong,” he told Leviticus.
“Leo was afraid. And when men are afraid, they become lost.”
Like me? thought Savage. The way I was lost?
“But he’ll find himself,” said Leviticus. “Good men usually do before it’s too late.”
Savage leaned his head back and listened to the rotors, the sound eventually lulling him to sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Alyssa Moore was lying in bed with her foot and ankle elevated. John Savage took a seat next to her on his visitation, his face having a few nicks and cuts, the vestiges of their journey together.
It was confirmed by x-ray that she had a minor break, a hairline fracture, and would need to spend another day at the hospital. She smiled at him. “You come here to kill me?”