The Green Lama: Unbound (The Green Lama Legacy Book 3) (36 page)

• • •

An explosion sounded off the right wing, shaking the plane’s very frame. A painful metallic screech and whine of a dying whale echoed through the ship.

“Did you feel that?” Ken asked, his voice cracking as he struggled to tighten the safety belts.

Rick bared his teeth in pain as he read over the dials. His hands wrapped around the controls, his knuckles bone white. “We just lost our right propeller,” he rumbled as beads of sweat began bubbling on his forehead.

What little color remained in Ken’s face quickly drained. “What?!” he shrieked.

Rick picked up the intercom. “All right boys and girls, play time’s over. Better come inside quick. This is gonna get real rough, real fast.”

“What just happened?” Jean asked moments later when she and Caraway ran into the cockpit.

Rick raised his eyebrows and scoffed. “Your
boyfriend
happened.”

“We’re crashing,” Ken added weakly.

“We’re crashing?!” Jean exclaimed.

“We’re gonna crash?!” Caraway shouted.

“What is it with this crew? Can’t seem to grasp the basic concept of gravity,” Rick grumbled as he fought with the controls. “I’m going to try and glide her in for a water landing, but won’t make any promises.”

“Wait, what about Jethro?” Jean asked, her voice wavering.

“Green Sleeves can handle himself,” Rick replied, though he sounded less than certain. He thumbed back toward the cabin. “Best thing you can do right now is strap your asses in and pray to whatever god you believe in. After we land—if we’re still alive—there should be an inflatable raft stored at the front of the passenger’s cabin. We’ll use that to get us over to Rye Land, or whatever the hell it’s called. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Caraway said with a nod, turning toward the cabin.

“They got him,” Jean whispered.

They followed her gaze, watching as a tall, tanned man dragged an unconscious Green Lama by his hood across the sky.

Caraway lightly placed a hand on Jean’s shoulder. “Come on, Jean. Let’s worry about saving him after—
if
we survive this.”

Jean shut her eyes and nodded. “Okay,” she said walking out of the cockpit. Then, glancing back at the looming black island on the horizon, she whispered, “We’re coming for you.”

The wind buffeted the airplane and the ocean rapidly approached.

Creatures of indescribable horror began attacking from all angles, snapping the wings in half, shattering windows. Beaks and claws pierced through the hull, screeching alien voices echoing around them. Jean dug her nails into her armrest, her knuckles turning white as she watched the twisted, organic shape of R’lyeh tower above them.

“We’re goin’ down!” Rick screamed over the loudspeaker. “We’re goin’ down!”

“Hang on!” Caraway shouted.

Ken sealed his eyes shut. “God, I hate flying…”

“All right, Prometheus,” Jean said. “Here we go.” As the plane hit the water, she kept her eyes on R’lyeh, but all she could think about was Jethro Dumont.

The engines exploded and all was pain.

C
HAPTER 18

ATTACK OF THE SHOGGOTH

“
Bodhisattva
, what are you doing?” Tsarong asked as Dumont hurriedly tore apart his room, packing what few possessions he owned into a small knapsack.

“
Don’t
call me that!” Dumont shouted, throwing his bag to the ground. “Don’t
ever
call me that again!”

Taken aback, Tsarong stuttered. “I… Jethro, I don’t understand.”

“This!” Dumont exclaimed, indicating the Jade Tablet bound to his flesh. The skin around the rainbow ring of hair was ripped and bleeding, as if he had been trying to dig the ring out. “I never wanted this! Any of it! I just wanted to find peace!”

“But, Jethro… Destiny doesn’t ask us if—”

Dumont threw a clay bowl to the ground, shattering it. “No! Do not speak to me of destiny! I don’t want to hear it! I’m just some rich boy forced into the games of the gods and I’m through playing!”

Tsarong looked at his friend with pity. “Jethro, destiny does not give you a choice.”

“That is where we disagree, Tsarong,” Dumont said, shaking his head. “And I have made mine.”

• • •

The ground reminded Gan of coral, covered in jumbled and intricate designs. Puddles of seawater and dying fish brought up from the darkest depths of oceans surrounded him, flopping mindlessly in the southern sun. A massive obsidian gate loomed over them; its surface etched with alien words and symbols, pictographs that put the human mind on edge. It was as awe inspiring as it was terrifying. The smell, however, was unbearable; it was all Gan could do not to wretch. A cacophony of maddening shrieks resounded high above them. Looking up, Gan shielded his eyes from the sun to find the sky filled with creatures attacking an approaching plane. A small green dot fell out of the plane before flying out to engage the unearthly creatures, ripping through them like tissue paper. A lump formed in his throat. It was Dumont, he was certain.

“Do not worry, Herr Oberführer,” Heydrich said limping over, his wounded eye hanging loose in its socket. “Dumont might be a man of strength, but I can assure you, he is no match for the power of the Great Old Ones.”

“If that is so, Heydrich, then how do you plan on controlling them?”

“It will not be a matter of control. Rather, it will be a matter of common goals.”

“And what goals are those?”

“Conquer the world, of course,” Heydrich said.

“With the Führer on the throne, of course.”

Heydrich’s smile thinned. “Of course.”

“Ironic isn’t it, then, that Hirsch wanted the same thing?”

The Nazi mystic eyed Gan suspiciously. “Yes. I suppose it is. It is unfortunate that he did not share our vision.”

“
Mein Gott
,” Gottschalk said moments later, watching the spectacle above. “We are living in a fantasy. This is not possible.”

“Oh, it is quite possible, sir,” Heydrich said. “Just because you do not see the seams in the world does not mean they do not exist.”

An explosion sounded from the sky, and the silver plane lost its right propeller in a flash of fire. Two small dots flew away from the damaged plane. His heart racing, Gan knew what it meant.

Heydrich smiled broadly, black ooze leaking through his teeth. “It seems we won’t have to worry about our friends much longer.”

Smoke trailed out from the ship’s engine as it dove toward the ocean. Creatures of all shapes and horrors came at it from every angle, ruining the once proud machine. Gan followed its descent until it fell behind the towers of R’lyeh, wincing at the explosion that echoed out seconds later.

A shadow fell over them. Looking up, they watched Nyarlathotep descend, tossing a pile of green cloths before them. “Gentlemen,” the ancient creature said with relish, his new face cracked like old paint. “I present to you, Jethro Dumont, the Green Lama.”

Gan knelt down and pulled aside the hood, his stomach dropping as he revealed Dumont’s face.

“Is he alive?” Gottschalk asked.

“For now,” Heydrich answered wickedly.

• • •

Pain. White, searing pain.

Someone was shouting. “Move, move, move!!”

“She’s bleeding, she’s bleeding!”

Water, knee deep and rising.

“Wake up, come on! Wake up!”

Someone grabbed her, lifted her out of her seat.

“Toss the raft out! Quickly!”

She could hear whispers, voices beneath the shouting, familiar, almost human.

“Caraway! Come on, dammit!”

“I ain’t goin’ in there unarmed!”

“You wait any longer you’re gonna be stayin’ here!”

Her vision was blurred and red. “What…?” she groaned.

“Ken! Ken, you got her?”

“I got her. Christmas, how does someone so thin weigh so much?”

“Prometheus,” she murmured.

“Hang in there, Jean. We’re almost out of here.”

She was floating, the sun above her, the blue sky littered with black swarms. A sharp shadow fell over her. Tilting her head up she gazed up at the monolith and murmured, “R’lyeh.”

• • •

“This thing just keeps going from bad to worse,” Caraway said, as they paddled away from the crash. Bits of flaming wreckage floated by while the plane gurgled down to a watery grave.

Rick let out a gruff laugh as he paddled forward. “You think this is bad, you shoulda seen what me and Twin Eagle went through in India. The Thugee are no joke. How’s our girl doing?” he asked Ken.

Her head resting in his lap, Ken cleaned the wound on Jean’s forehead with a torn handkerchief. Frowning, he said: “In and out. I can hear her murmur something every so often, but other than that…” He shook his head.

“Jean’s a tough girl. She’ll pull through,” Caraway said. He shielded his eyes as he looked up at the walled structure floating in front of them. “Hopefully, before we get inside the city.”

“And how do we plan on doing that exactly?” Rick asked.

“The Gates,” Jean groaned, her voice monotone. “Through the Gates, with the broken key.”

“Oh, boy,” Rick sighed. “She’s talking crazy.”

Her eyes fluttered open as she shook her head, tentatively placing a hand on the wound on her forehead. “You’re all heart, Masters,” she said groggily as she propped herself up on her elbows.

“You okay, Red?” Ken asked.

“Head’s killing me,” she said, rubbing her temples. “Not sure if it’s the gash, the voices running around inside my skull, the Tablets, or all of the above.” She leaned forward and brought out the two glowing Jade Tablets from their respective bags. Her brow furrowed as she lifted the Tablets and looked over their engraved surfaces. “I’m gonna vote all of the above.”

Ken bit his lip nervously. “This like the time you heard the voices at the Rabbi’s?”

Jean nodded slowly. “Kinda, except it’s a bit more… refined. I can sorta understand them a bit better.”

Rick raised an eyebrow. “You’re hearing voices?”

“Something like that,” Jean replied. “Call ’em visions.”

“Because that’s better?”

“Listen, buddy, I’ve been to the future and back. I’ve seen how bad things get if we screw the pooch. This precognition—or whatever you wanna call it—might be the only thing we have to win this,” she shot back.

Rick rolled his eyes. “No offense, lady, I’ve been up and down this globe, but hokey religions and weird visions are no match for a good pistol at your side.”

“You’d think, by now, you’d take a leap of faith,” Ken said sharply. “Talk to us, Red, how do we get in?”

Jean shrugged. “How do you think? The front entrance.”

• • •

By his count there were a little over a hundred Nazis on the narrow coral platform before the immense black gates; a U-Boat docked nearby. Nyarlathotep and Heydrich stood closest to the entrance, the Green Lama unconscious at their feet. Moving back around the corner, Ken related this to the others.

“Do you see Vasili?” Caraway asked.

Ken shook his head. “If he’s there, they’re hiding him pretty good.”

“Probably in the U-boat,” Jean observed. “Keeping him close to the vest, so to speak. What about Gan?”

“Looks like he’s got a bad limp,” Ken nodded. “But, other than that, he’s seems okay.”

Caraway huffed, his fingers finding his pistol. “Give me a clear shot and he won’t be much longer.”

Jean eyed Caraway. “John, if it weren’t for him, none of us would have made it out of the ruins alive.”

“Tell that to Sotiria,” Caraway bit back.

“Let’s see if we can get closer,” Rick said. “Maybe we can do something to stop them before they get inside.”

Jean shook her head. “We’re outnumbered at least five to one, not counting the creatures up there,” she said pointing her pistol to the sky. “We make any kinda fuss, we’re dead. But some more reconnaissance won’t hurt, that way if anything goes down we’ll be ready for it.”

“What do you think is gonna happen?” Ken asked Jean.

“Hopefully not the end of the world.”

• • •

“The Gates of R’lyeh,” Nyarlathotep breathed. He pressed his hand against the cold black coral. “How many millennia have passed since I last gazed upon you? So much power within, begging to be released.” He half-turned to Heydrich and extended his other hand. “Karl, the Shard, if you will.”

Heydrich removed the Shard from its scabbard. Bowing his head, he silently handed it to Nyarlathotep.

Looking at the Nazi forces, Nyarlathotep smiled. “My friends! In my previous form I promised you power unimaginable. I promised you the keys to the kingdom. I promised you the world. And though my face has changed, I fully intend to stand by my word.” Nyarlathotep drove the Shard into a hidden keyhole, sliding the crystalline blade all the way in up to the hilt. A loud hum echoed through the air as the gateway began to open inwards and inhuman screams echoed out. Several Nazi soldiers inched back toward the U-boat, shooting into the shadowed innards of the city out of instinct. Gan could feel his heart hammer against his chest. His hands shook uncontrollably.