The Templar Chronicles (60 page)

As they walked Cade noted that something about the landscape around them was different.

There was color here.

Not just in his men, which was to be expected, for the living were always brighter than anything else on the other side of the Veil, but in all that he looked at, from the subtle hues of brown working their way through the dirt beneath his feet to the streaks of green and black that ran through the carpet of vegetation spread out before them.

It was as if the living world was somehow leaking into the Beyond.

What the hell was going on?

The last few days had been filled with their share of surprises. First his conversation with Logan, quickly followed by his discovery that Gabrielle was still lingering on in some sort of suspended state of existence and that everything Logan had told him about the Adversary and his plans for Gabrielle might actually be true. Then he’d received the mysterious package from Father Martin, which had led them to the church, the portal, and the current mission into the Beyond.

Something deep in his gut told him that the two groups of events were somehow linked together, that what had happened to Gabrielle was in some way connected to the events involving Father Martin, but he couldn’t make sense of it all yet, couldn’t find the forest for the trees around him, it seemed. He needed some time to sit back and think about it, work it through in his head, but time was luxury he just didn’t have.

They left the remains of the town behind without incident and continued their march. It took them another hour to climb through the hilly country just beyond, finally reaching the particular ridgeline they’d selected as their staging area just before nightfall.

Cade had the men scout the surrounding area, making certain that they were alone. Once they had returned and given the all-clear, he had them set up three guard posts in a triangle formation around the camp, each one about fifty yards away from the center. That would give them enough warning if something managed to breach the perimeter.

An uncomfortable incident occurred just after they’d settled into camp, when the men broke out their rations. Like most modern military units, the Templars used MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat, individual packaged meals with a self-contained heating device inside. Each man had several MREs with them in their packs. But every package that they opened turned out to be spoiled, filled with maggots and other unidentifiable insects. They also stank to high heaven, as if the food inside had been spoiled for days, which should have been impossible since all of the packages were of recent manufacture and were sealed tightly up until the moment the troops opened them. Only the crackers and drink mix were still edible.

It was a disturbing reminder of where they were and several of them men crossed themselves and said a short prayer as the information was passed around. More than one refused to touch the crackers or the drink mix, and Cade knew that this was going to be a much larger problem come the morning when they needed food to keep their energy levels up after an attack on the Chiang Shih encampment.

Still wondering what to do about it, Cade moved off to a quiet corner and tried to get some sleep.

*** ***

He stands alone in the center of the street, in a town that has no name. He has been here before, more than once, but each time the resolution is different, as if the events about to transpire are ordained by the random chance found on a giant spinning wheel, a cosmic wheel of fortune, and not by the actions he is about to take or has taken before.

He knows from previous experience that, just a few blocks beyond this one the town suddenly ends, becoming a great plain of nothingness, the landscape an artist’s canvas that stands untouched, unwanted.

This town has become the center of his universe.

Around him, the blackened buildings sag in crumbling heaps, testimony to his previous visits. He wonders what the town will look like a few weeks from now, when the confrontation about to take place has been enacted and re-enacted and reenacted again, until even these ragged shells stand no more. Will the road, like the buildings, be twisted and torn?

He does not know.

He turns his attention back to the present, for even after all this time, he might learn something new that could lead him to his opponent’s true identity.

The sky is growing dark, though night is still hours away. Dark grey storm clouds laced with green-and-silver lightning are rolling in from the horizon, like horses running hard to reach the town’s limits before the fated confrontation begins. The air is heavy with impending rain and the electrical tension of the coming storm. In the slowly fading afternoon light the shadows around him stretch and move. He learned early on that they can have a life of their own.

He avoids them now.

The sound of booted feet striking the pavement catches his attention, and he knows he has exhausted his time here. He turns to face the length of the street before him, just in time to see his foe emerge from the crumbled ruins at its end, just as he has emerged each and every time they have encountered one another in this place. It is as if his enemy is always here, silently waiting with infinite patience for him to make his appearance.

Pain shoots across his face and through his hands, phantoms of the true sensation that had once coursed through his flesh, from their first meeting in another time and place. Knowing it will not last, he waits the few seconds for the pain to fade. Idly, he wonders, not for the first time, if the pain is caused by his foe or by his own recollection of the suffering he once endured at the enemy’s hands.

He smiles grimly as the pain fades.

A chill wind suddenly rises, stirring the hairs on the back of his neck, and in that wind, he is certain he can hear the soft, sibilant whispers of a thousand lost souls, each and every one crying out to him to provide solace and sanctuary.

The voices act as a physical force, pushing him forward from behind, and before he knows it he is striding urgently down the street. His hands clench into fists as he is enveloped with the desire to tear his foe limb from limb with his bare hands. So great is his anger that it makes him forget the other weapons at his disposal in this strange half-state of reality.

The Adversary simply stands in the middle of the street, waiting. His features are hidden in the darkness of the hooded cloak that he wears over his form in this place, but his mocking laughter echoes clearly off the deserted buildings and carries easily in the silence.

The insult only adds fuel to Cade’s rage.

Just as he draws closer, the scene shifts, wavers, the way a mirage will shimmy in the heat rising from the pavement. For a second it regains its form and in that moment Cade has the opportunity to glimpse the surprise in the other’s face, then everything dissolves around him in a dizzying spiral of shifting patterns and unidentified shapes.

Cade came awake with a gasp, the now familiar dream putting his heart rate into overdrive.

But this time, he’d noticed something different.

Amidst the ruins surrounding the Adversary, Cade had seen vegetation that looked surprisingly like that which had covered the town they had passed through earlier that afternoon.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

After the seeming reality of the dream, Cade was unable to go back to sleep. He decided to make himself useful, so he got up and checked in by radio with the listening posts, knowing that they’d be happy to hear a friendly voice after being alone out there in the dark for awhile.

Posts one and two were doing just fine. He was in the midst of speaking with Davis, who was holed up in post three, when the other man interrupted in mid-sentence. “Hold on a sec, Commander. I think I see…”

Cade glanced out across the darkness in Davis’ direction but he was too far away to see anything for himself. A minute passed, then two. He was about to call Davis back when the other man saved him the trouble.

“We’ve got incoming!” Davis shouted into the radio. “Twenty five to thirty Chiang Shih, maybe more. I lost count. I’m forty yards out and closing.”

The men manning the listening posts had orders to hotfoot it back to camp if they came under attack and Davis was obviously following them. Cade was confident that he would make it in time. His warning would also give the team the time they needed to be ready before the enemy reached them.

“Stations!” Cade cried, rousing the rest of his troops and then scrambled to get into position himself.

As he did so, Cade found himself wondering how the Chiang Shih had known they were there. Had they missed a sentry? Tripped some kind of warning system? Was it just dumb bad luck?

They were about to face a force much larger than he’d ever intended they face and at a time and place not of their choosing. It was going to take all of their skill to get through this. But like any good commander, Cade had made sure his men knew what to do in the event of an attack on their encampment and they reacted as they’d been trained. Seconds after the warning from Davis, the team was lined up in a semi-circle facing the onrushing enemy, protected by the ruins at their back.

The bows worked as well as Cade had hoped, the act of physically drawing the bowstring infusing the weapon with enough personal emotion to allow them to operate within the confines of the Beyond. Shot after shot flew from the Templar ranks, each one unerringly finding its target as the enemy rushed out of the treeline before them.

But it wasn’t enough.

The woods were full of Chiang Shih, with more and more appearing at every moment and it was clear to Cade that if they stayed where they were they would be overrun.

As much has he hated to give up this position, it hadn’t been designed to withstand a full on attack. Trying to make a stand against this many of the enemy wasn’t even an option. They were a guerilla force, not an army. They had no choice but to retreat back the way they had come. If they could reach the portal before they were cut off, they could rely on Second Squad and the rest of the men they’d left behind to cover their retreat and keep the enemy from crossing the Veil.

“Fall back!” Cade cried and like a well-oiled machine the Templars surged into motion, leapfrogging backward, one group covering the other as they made their way back through the trees toward the road below.

And just like that, his plan to harass and annoy the enemy went out the window.

The moon gave them enough light to see by and the team quickly reassembled on the road below. A few of the men had minor wounds, but nothing serious. Cade could only hope it stayed that way. A count was quickly taken and when they were certain they had everyone with them, they continued onward. Cade estimated they had maybe five minutes lead on the enemy. It wouldn’t take the Chiang Shih long to figure out where they had gone and when they did, it would be a race to see who could reach the portal first.

Cade intended to win that race.

Free of the trees and the surrounding vegetation they made good time, reaching the outskirts of the town before too long.

That’s where things took a turn for the worse.

A glow lit the horizon ahead of them. Cade had just noticed it when Riley came back down the line, an urgent look on his face.

“They’ve fired the town. If we don’t move quickly, we’ll be cut off.”

His words were all it took to spur the men to redouble their efforts. They charged ahead, the thump of their booted feet the only sounds that passed between them. It wasn’t long before the air was filled with the smell of smoke and burning vegetation , getting thicker as they continued forward.

As they neared the end of town flames could be seen rising high into the night sky. Cade felt like a rat in a maze and he wondered what they would find when they reached the other side; would the Chiang Shih be waiting for them? Why else would they fire the town, if not to drive them in a certain direction?

But neither he nor the Chiang Shih had remembered that the vegetation had a life of its own. And at that moment, it decided it had had enough.

All about them, the plants reared up, dragging themselves free of their roots and fleeing in whatever direction they could. The team was forced to slow down, hunting for paths through the flames that were likely to change with every passing moment.

Like any wounded animal the vegetation reacted blindly to the intense pain caused by the fire, rearing up around them and slamming itself back down, trying to put out the flames by beating itself against the ground.

Unfortunately, this only served to fan the fire.

A blazing wall of vegetation suddenly swept toward them and Cade was forced to dive to one side to avoid the flames. As he climbed to his feet he discovered that one of their number hadn’t been so fortunate. While most of the team had thrown themselves to the left, Duncan had dived in the other direction and was now cut off by the surging flames.

To make matters worse the front ranks of the enemy had finally caught up to them. Realizing he couldn’t reach Cade and the others, Duncan turned to face the enemy.

Alone.

Olsen didn’t hesitate. Screaming Duncan’s name, he charged through the growing fire, intent on saving his teammate.

The flames flared up again, preventing Cade from following, and he could only stand and watch and pray.

For a moment he lost sight of Olsen as he was obscured by the smoke and flames but then he reappeared, this time on the other side of the conflagration. One arm of his uniform was ablaze, but he ignored it, fighting like a demon from hell itself. His sword rose and fell, rose and fell, as he chopped and slashed his way through the ranks of the enemy.

Duncan must have taken heart at his appearance for his own struggles suddenly intensified as well. Like a man possessed he slashed at the Chiang Shih within reach, all the while deflecting the various blows that reigned down upon him.

For a moment Cade thought he might be witnessing a miracle, thought that the two men might prevail against the superior numbers and strength of the enemy surrounding them.

Please Lord, he thought.