a young girl learns she is to decide the fate of the world in this scifi (or fantasy?) story someone started and gave me permission to finish.
The Key
Prologue by “Tira Misu”
“I will die soon.”
All of her life she had known this man. Grew up with him, learned with and from him, fell in love with him and now she had to watch him pass on. Now with his hand in both of hers, cheeks wet from her tears, she felt as weak as she had ever felt before. So powerless against the laws of nature.
“I have a confession to make.” He said in a voice not his own, but a weakened ruin of the wonderful sound it once was. “I have not always been honest with you. There are things about me that you do not know. Very well for your own good. At last you deserve a reason.” His breath so shallow. “For there is a task you must carry out. A change that must take place in your life.”
She didn’t completely ignore all he was saying. She had already started her grieving process. Watching him suffer before so was truly hell. What had happen, how he had gotten such a wound in his chest, no one was sure of yet. He had just disappeared those few days and came back near death. And here he was no, finally awake and she could not find the words to say to him. Many past her mind but all seemed wrong. Like maybe she should finally say what had been building forever. Maybe she should declare her love for him.
“Look up little one.” His hand using what little strength it had to lift her head himself.
“I…” she couldn’t say a thing.
“You are strong even if now you may seem weak. It has always been you. I was just selfish. Never wanted to share… never wanted you to get hurt. Too much heart you have had in the past. Too easy of a heart to break.” He placed his fingertips on her fore head. “I am sorry if the things you will bare witness to are not things you care to be part of, but you must. You must…”
The many machines the hospital had used in order to sustain his life had all at once begin to sound in alarm. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body began to spasm. She stood, alarmed, and pressed eagerly at the button over his bead labeled “doctor’s assistance”. She took his hand yet he shoved it away pulling the small wires attached to his body from himself. He pulled her arm so hard she fell onto her knees as he once again placed his hands on her forehead.
“You must awaken.” He said through clinched teeth. “Awaken!”
She felt a sudden pain run its way from her head down to her feet. A burning and a chill at the same. His eyes she watched changed the most beautiful shade of blue yet they seemed impossible for a human to have. Then like a blow delivered to the head it hit her. She had no idea what it was but it hit her and as she fell on her back she felt it invade. Felt it began its journey through out her. In a matter of seconds her life had changed. Be for better or worse something now crawled through her being and that love of her life took his final breath…
The Key
Part 1 (where I pick up)
His death was still a shock to her. She stood there, just staring at the lifeless body of the handsome, dark haired young man, the love of her life though he never knew that. As she stared at him with teary eyes, the doctors finally showed up. They worked on him, trying to revive him, but to no avail. The head doctor finally looked up at her and shook his head sadly. The doctors covered the body and wheeled it out past her. She turned and started to follow them, but at that moment, three armed Military Police officers approached her.
“Miss,” said the MP in the middle. “Please come with us.”
“Why?” she asked. “What for?”
“We’d like to ask you a few questions,” the MP on the left said.
“About what?”
“About that man that the doctors just wheeled away,” the MP on the right said.
She gave them a confused look. “About Kallen? But, that doesn’t make any sense. What would Kallen have to do with the military?”
“Just come with us, miss,” the middle MP said.
“Well…” She looked down the hospital hallway and watched the doctors wheel Kallen’s body into a room at the far end. Kallen, she thought, I will always love you. “Okay,” she said to the MPs. “I’ll go with you. But only so I can find out why the military is interested in Kallen.”
Two MPs led the young blond girl into a dark room. In the room were only a small wooden table, and two hard-backed wooden chairs at the table, one across from the other. A shadeless lightbulb hung down from the ceiling, directly over the table.
“Have a seat,” one of the MPs said, and shoved her towards the table.
She stumbled to a chair and sat down. The two MPs shut the door and took up guard positions. Frightened yet curious at the same time, she sat and waited. After ten minutes that felt like an eternity, the door opened and a man in a general’s uniform entered the room and took a seat across from the girl. One of the MPs shut the door and resumed his guard position.
The general took a tape recorder from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table between him and the girl. He hit the record button.
“I am General Marttin,” he said. “I have some questions to ask you, miss, and I am recording our interview for future reference.”
“Interview?” the girl said. “This seems more like an interrogation than an interview to me.”
The general looked around, as if seening the surroundings for the first time. “Hmmm…” he said. “Yes, I can see how you might think that. But no, this is only an interview. Now, what’s your name, miss?”
“Anya. Anya Sorenson.”
“And how old are you, Miss Sorenson?”
“Nineteen.”
“And how did you know Kallen McCallister?”
“We grew up together.”
“And how well did you know him?”
“Very well. We were the best of friends. Why are you interested in Kallen?”
The general ignored her question. “How did he die?”
“I’m not sure. He disappeared for a few days, then he showed up all of a sudden with a nasty wound in his chest. I rushed him to the hospital, where he died soon after being admitted.”
“I see. And you have no idea how he got wounded?”
“No. Do…do you?”
He ignored her question again. “Did he say anything or give you anything before he died?”
Apprehension swam through her. He knows something, she realized. “No. No he didn’t.”
“Really? Well, that’s too bad.”
“Why’s that?”
He looked at her a second. “Tell me, Miss Sorenson. What did Mr. McCallister do for a living?”
“He…he sold computers.”
“Really? What if I told you he didn’t really sell computers? What if I told you that instead, he was really a Military Intellligence agent?”
Anya stared at him as if he had just grown two heads. “That…that’s ridiculous!”
“It’s true . He worked for Military Intelligence. But he went rogue. He stole something very valuable. We were hoping you could tell us what he did with it.”
She shook her head. “No. No! This is all crazy! Kallen wasn’t a spy! And I have no idea what you are talking about! And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you!”
The general turned the tape recorder off. “Well, Miss Sorenson, I’m sorry you couldn’t help us.” He turned to the MPs. “Take her away.”
The MPs walked over, grabbed Anya by the arms, and escorted her from the room.
The general sat there and stared at the tape recorder for a minute. “She’s hiding something,” he said. “And I’ll find out what it is.”
The Key, part 2
“NO!” the blond girl cried out as the two MPs dragged her down the dim, cell-lined hallway. “Let me go! Please!”
“Shut up,” one MP snarled as he opened a cell door.
“But…” Anya said. “But…why? Why are you doing this to me?? I don’t deserve to be put in a cell! I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“It’s standard procedure for detainees, Miss Sorenson,” the other MP said.
Then they shoved her into the cell, shut the door, and locked it.
Anya ran to the door and started beating her fists on it. “Let me out!” she called. “Please! I’m claustrophobic! Let me out!”
The two MPs laughed and walked off.
Anya slid down to a sitting position on the floor, her back to the door. Tears fell down her cheeks. “Why?” she asked after a while. “Why did they put me in here? I didn’t do anything. Is it because of Kallen? I…I still don’t believe what that general said about Kallen working for Military Intelligence. It’s so preposterous. How could Kallen have been a spy and I not know it?”
“Because that’s how he wanted it, Anya,” a man’s voice said from the other side of the door. “He didn’t want you to know.”
With a gasp, Anya stood up and faced the door. “How…how do you know my name?” she asked. “Who are you?”
“A friend of Kallen’s. And yours.”
Scraping sounded inside the lock.
A man of fifty years of age stood by the entrance to the detention area. The badges on his general’s uniform gleamed in the overhead light. As the two MPs approached him, he stepped in front of them.
“Is she secure?” he asked.
“Yes, General Marttin,” one of the MPs said.
“Good. We’ll let her stay there for a while. Once she’s weakened a bit, we’ll question her again. I’m certain she knows something, and I want to find out what.”
“Yes, sir.”
The general turned and walked off.
The cell door opened. A man in military uniform stood before Anya. He was tall, good-looking, had blond hair, and looked to be in his early twenties. She just stood there, staring at him.
“Uh…” he said. “Are you just going to stand there? I thought you would have wanted out of that little cell.”
“OH!” she said, snapping out of her stupor. “You’re right! I do want out of here.”
“Then follow me.”
He stepped aside to give her room to leave the cell. Once she was out, he led her down a maze of dimly lit corridors. They stopped at a dead end.
“Some rescue,” Anya quipped. “Where to now?”
“See that vent up there?” he said, pointing to a partially open grate in the ceiling.
“Yeah. So?”
“We’re going out that way.”
She cast a skeptical look his way, but in the dim light, he didn’t see it. Instead he jumped up, grabbed hold of the edge of the ceiling panel, and pulled himself up. Then he reached a hand down to Anya. Feeling uncertain, but figuring anything was better than that cell she had been in, she took his hand. He pulled her up.
“Who are you?” Anya asked as they crawled along the ventilation system’s ducts.
“My name is Brian Hawthorne. I worked closely with Kallen. We were good friends.”
“I see. And how do you know me?”
“Kallen once told me that, if anything ever happened to him, he wanted me to look after you. When I heard you had been brought in, I had to get you out.”
“Oh. Well, what happened to Kallen? How did he die?”
Brian was silent for a minute. “That’s a long story,” he finally said. “Quite complicated. It’d better wait until we’re someplace safe.”
“Oh. Well, okay, I guess. But, answer me this. Did he really work for Military Intelligence?”
“Yes.”
“And you do, too?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
They continued crawling in silence. Finally, they came to a grate that faced the outside. Between the openings, Anya could see the city in the distance. Brian pulled a screwdriver from a pocket and loosened the grate. He slid it aside and crawled out to a narrow ledge. He helped Anya out and they slowly made their way along the side of the four-story building to a drainpipe. He tied a rope to the drain and they made their way down the three stories to the ground. Then they made a run for it across the open field of the military base, until they came to a chain link fence topped with barbed wire.
“Now what?” Anya asked.
In answer, Brian pulled wirecutters out of his pocket and used them on the fence. Within moments, he had an opening made that they could slide through. Once out, they ran for the city.
In his office, General Marttin sat behind his desk, watching a security video on a TV monitor in his wall.
“I see,” he said as he watched Brian let Anya out of her cell and lead her down the corridor. “I should have known you’d be involved as well, Mr. Hawthorne. You and Mr. McCallister were like two peas in a pod.”
He watched them disappear into the ventilation shaft, then make their dash across the base and escape through the fence.
“Yes, I will find out what Miss Sorenson knows, for I know now that it must be something important. Mr. Hawthorne has shown that to me.” He pressed a button on his desk and spoke into his intercom. “Mr. Aida, send out a squad into the city to retrieve Miss Anya Sorenson and to apprehend Agent Hawthorne.”
“Yes, sir,” said a voice from the intercom.
The Key, part 3
Brian and Anya ran through the dark streets of the city, Brian pulling Anya along behind him. Anya cast a quick glance behind her.
“I…I think we lost them,” she stammered out. They had been running so long and so hard all night that she was getting tired and breathless.
“They won’t give up,” Brian said. “It’s part of their training as soldiers. But at least we’re almost there.”
“‘There’? What or where is ‘there’?”
He stopped in the middle of the street and bent over to remove a manhole cover. “Here,” he said.
“A…a sewer?” Anya asked skeptically.
“Yes. But not just any sewer. Come on. Follow me.”
He crawled down the manhole. Anya stood there, staring after him for a minute. Then, figuring it was better than letting the soldiers get her, she shrugged and followed him down. Once she was down, Brian crawled back up and replaced the manhole cover before crawling back down. And just in time, too, for barely had the lid been replaced than a military search patrol passed by the street they had been on.
Brian took Anya’s hand and led her along the labyrinthine sewer system. The rank odor made Anya light-headed, but she forced herself not to pass out. Their trek through the sewers ended when they came to a wooden door that seemed somewhat out of place. Brian knocked.
The door opened a crack. “What’s the password?” a man’s gruff voice asked.
“Free Thalia,” Brian said.
Anya looked at him curiously.
“Enter,” the gruff voice said. “And welcome back, Brian.”
“Thanks, Mack.”
The door opened all the way, and Brian led Anya inside, stopping to shake the hand of the big, burly dark-haired man by the door. “Nicodemus is in the back, Brian,” the big man said.
“All right, Mack,” Brian said. “Thanks. Come on, Anya. Let me introduce you to Nicodemus. Then you’ll find out what really happened to Kallen.”
She gave him a questioning look, but followed him to the back of the large, damp, and crowded room. Men and women of all ages were gathered in the room, scattered here and there. Many cleaned or practiced with various weapons that ranged all over, from slingshots for the children to crossbows, swords, quarterstaffs, and firearms. At the back of the room, Brian opened another door and entered. Anya followed. The door closed behind her.
Back at the base, the patrol leader entered the general’s office. General Marttin sat behind his desk. He closed the folder of the report he had been looking at when the soldier entered.
“What do you have to report?” General Marttin asked.
“Sir, I’m afraid we haven’t been able to find them.”
General Marttin growled and stood up behind his desk. “WHAT??”
“They managed to give us the slip, sir. We had located them a few times, but they always got away from us. We haven’t been able to find them since the last time.”
General Marttin fixed the soldier with a menacing stare. “Well, get back out there and find them! I want Anya Sorenson and Brian Hawthorne!”
“Y…y…yes, sir!”
The soldier saluted and left, and the general sat back down. He stared at the door. “You won’t be able to hide for long. You will be found, then I will know what you know.”
“Ah, Brian,” said the old man at the table. “Welcome back, my boy. And who is your pretty friend?”
Brian stepped up to the table, and Anya followed him.
“Nicodemus,” Brian said, “this is Anya Sorenson, Kallen’s friend. Anya, this is Nicodemus, the leader of our little resistance group.”
“Resistance group?” Anya asked. “Resistance against what?”
“Against the military. Have you not noticed how they are controlling everything in Thalia? It won’t be long before martial law is declared and they take over for good.”
“Yes, I have noticed. But Lord Michael and Lady Sayana would never allow the military to take over entirely.”
“They might,” Nicodemus said. “If the military does what they have planned.”
“What do they have planned?”
“The destruction of the monarchy.”
Anya stared at him like he was crazy. “But…that’s ridiculous! How could the military destroy the monarchy?”
“By destroying the whole city,” Brian said.
She looked at him with wide blue eyes. “But…how…”
“Kallen stumbled across this plan,” Brian said. “It’s why he and I went rogue and joined the resistance. The military has some sort of super weapon they plan to use if the Lord and Lady won’t declare martial law.”
“What sort of super weapon?”
“We’re not quite sure yet exactly what it is or what it can do. But…” Brian looked to Nicodemus. At a nod from the old man, Brian continued. “All right, Anya, I’ll tell you. It concerns you directly, anyway.”
“It concerns ME?” she asked, incredulous.
“Yes. You see, only you can either save us…or destroy us.”
Anya sat in silent dumbfoundment for a minute. Finally, she stood up. “This is NUTS!” she yelled. “How can I either save or destroy us?”
“Miss,” Nicodemus said, “please, sit down and we will try to explain.”
Anya did as she was asked.
“You see, Anya,” Brian said, “but we’re really aren’t sure yet exactly what is going on. But you are deeply involved in this. You see, when Kallen and I stumbled upon the plan about the super weapon, we also learned something else. The super weapon requires a key to use it. But the key also has the power to destroy it.”
“What is this key?” Anya asked. “How does it work?”
“The key is a person. A person born with a special power hidden deep within. Their power can either activate the weapon or destroy it, depending upon the will of the person at the time they touch it.”
“And who is this person?”
“Someone who has a star-shaped birthmark.”
Anya stared at him. “I…I have a birthmark like that.”
Brian nodded. “Kallen told me that when we learned about all of this.”
“How…how did you find all this out?”
“Well, a monk had been brought in for interrogation. Curious as to why a monk would be interrogated, we sort of ‘borrowed’ the tape and listened to it. Then, we had a talk of our own with the monk before letting him out. He wasn’t much more forthcoming with us than he had been with the general, but when Kallen mentioned you and your birthmark, the monk got a strange look in his eyes. He touched Kallen on the forehead, and Kallen jerked as if he had been shocked. The monk said to give you what he had given Kallen. Then we made our escape. But some MPs saw us, and opened fire. The monk was killed, and Kallen wounded. I thought he was already dead, so I made my own escape. I guess I was wrong, if he made it to you and you got him to a hospital. Did Kallen ever give you whatever it was the monk had given him?”
Anya remember how Kallen had touched her on her forehead, and she had felt something make its way painfully through her body. She also remembered him saying something about her having to awaken. “Yes, he did,” she said. “But what was it that went through me? Some sort of power?”
“Yes, it was,” a female voice said from the doorway. Everyone turned to look. It was a pretty redheaded lady in a white nun’s outfit. “It was the power of God, sent within you to help awaken the power of the key you hold inside.”
“Who are you?” Nicodemus asked.
“Sister Harmony,” she said. “I’ve been sent to help this girl.”
The Key, part 4
“You were sent here?” Anya asked the redheaded lady in the white nun’s habit. “To help me?”
“Yes,” the nun replied.
“Sent by whom, Sister Harmony?” Brian asked. “And just how did you find us?”
“God sent me.”
Brian rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. Right. God sent you. Okay.”
The nun frowned slightly at Brian. “He did. Allow me to explain.”
Brian motioned to a chair at the table. “Please do, Sister.”
General Marttin sat at his desk, reading a file. Slowly, he closed it and a smile crossed his face. “Ah, at last. I finally know where it is.” He pressed a button on his desk. “Mr. Aida,” he said into the intercom, “prepare my car.”
“Yes, sir,” the voice from the intercom said.
The general got up and walked towards his door, but at that moment the door suddenly opened. A Military Police officer walked in.
“Sir,” the MP said as he saluted, “forgive the intrusion, but we’ve located them.”
“Excellent!” the general said. “Tell me where they are.”
“You see,” Sister Harmony said, “it’s like this. I and my fellow Sisters and Brothers have been entrusted by God with the protection of the Key until such time as her destiny is to be fulfilled and she comes into contact with the Scepter of Divinity.”
“Whoa,” Brian said. “Hold on. Scepter of Divinity? What’s that? Is it the super weapon that the military has?”
“Wants, not has. They have not found it yet. They are only looking for it. They only claim they have it so that they may intimidate the monarchy.”
“Oh, I see. They’re bluffing. Okay. Continue, then, Sister.”
“Thank you. As I was saying, my Order and I are to protect the Key. A select few of us, though, are chosen to guard the Scepter at a location known only to them.”
Brian interrupted again. “How did the military learn of the Scepter?”
Sister Harmony shrugged. “I really couldn’t say. It is a legendary relic. I suppose someone heard about the legend.”
“About twenty years ago, a sign came to us from God - an unusually bright star. That was the signal that the Key had been born. We knew then that the foretold time was at hand. We prepared ourselves for our duty to her. Then, just recently, God told us where we could find her. Brother Nicholas and I were chosen to go find the Key. Brother Nicholas left first, but we never heard back from him. So I was sent out and found my way here to Thalia. Though I have not been able to find out what happened to Brother Nicholas, I did manage to find the Key. As I neared a manhole in an empty street, I had a sudden feeling at the back of my mind. It was a feeling like those that I get when God speaks to me. The feeling told me that I should go down. I did so, and followed similar feelings until I came here.”
“I see,” said Brian. “You weren’t seen, were you? There are military patrols out looking for Anya and me. A lonely nun on an empty street, going down a manhole, would draw attention.”
“I do not believe I was seen.”
“Good. Now, about this Brother Nicholas…”
The door slammed open and a brown-haired boy not more than twelve ran in. “Nicodemus! The lookouts… They…They say the sewers are crawling with military soldiers!”
Nicodemus suddenly stood up from his seat at the table where he had been listening intently. “What?!” He ran out of the room and started giving orders to evacuate. The members of the resistance scrambled around, packing up their meger belongings.
Brian looked at the nun. “Not seen, huh?”
Sister Harmony blushed in embarassment. “I…I guess I was mistaken.”
“I guess so.” He turned to Anya. “Well, Anya, it looks like this place isn’t safe anymore. Come on. We’re moving to our backup site.”
He led Anya from the room. Sister Harmony followed them. Nicodemus touched a brick in a wall, and a section of the wall opened up. He motioned for the small group of resistance fighters to go into the dark passage. When all were inside and on their way down the passage, he went inside. He touched a brick on the passage side of the wall, and the door closed without a trace. Except for the pieces of furniture that were too big to carry, the group had left no signs of occupation.
General Marttin trudged through the rank sewers with a team of soldiers. He found a wooden door and opened it. The room he found was empty but for a few pieces of furniture. He growled and slammed a fist into the wall. He didn’t flinch.
“They must have been here,” he said. “This is the only place we’ve found that looks like someplace they would have been. You!” He pointed to a soldier. “Search this place inside out! Let me know every little detail you find! And the rest of you, go back out, join the other search teams, and scour the sewers and surrounding streets! Find them! Miss Sorenson, Mr. Hawthorne, and that resistance group. I want them all found!!”
The group left the sewers and entered through a grating into a basement. Nicodemus ordered the group to start setting up, then told Anya, Brian, and Sister Harmony to follow him. He led them upstairs and down a hall to a large room. Pews covered the floor. An altar sat at the far end of the room, surrounded by crumbled pieces of rock. A broken cross hung on the far wall. Sister Harmony touched her forehead, chest, and shoulders in semblance of the cross.
“Where are we?” Anya asked.
“An old abandoned church,” Nicodemus said. “Now, let us continue our talk from earlier.”
“As you wish,” Sister Harmony said. She took a seat on a pew, but the others remainded standing. “You wanted to say something regarding Brother Nicholas, Mr. Hawthorne?”
“Yes. I believe I know the fellow. Or I suppose I should say ‘knew’ him. Kallen and I talked with a monk named Nicholas in the detention area of the base. He told us some things about the Key, and gave Kallen something that Anya now has – that power or whatever from God to waken her powers as the Key. But he didn’t tell us everything. Then, as we escaped with him, some soldiers shot and killed him.”
“Yes,” Sister Harmony said sadly. “That would be Brother Nicholas. It saddens me to know he is dead, but at least he managed to do part of his duty to the Key and is now with God.”
“Sister,” Anya said. “just what exactly am I supposed to do as this Key?”
“When the time comes, you will take hold of the Scepter of Divinity and make your decision.”
“What decision? What’s so special about the Scepter?”
“The Scepter holds tremendous power. Power on the level of God Himself. The military has no idea of the true power the Scepter has. It must not have that power. It cannot control it. Only you, the Key, can control the power of the Scepter.”
“What is its true power? Just how powerful can it be? And what is the decision I am supposed to make?”
“When the time comes, you must decide the fate of the world. You see, evil forces will be at work to get Anya to unleash the power of the Scepter of Divinity. Evil forces such as the military. If she does so, the world will end. But the Key can also destroy the Scepter and save the world. That is her decision, her destiny. To save the world…or to end it.”
Anya and the others stared at her, dumbfounded.
The Key, part 5
General Marttin stalked into his office and slammed the door shut. “Damn!” he yelled. “How could they have gotten away? I was sure I had them this time with our surprise raid. Well, at least I know where our super weapon is now.”
He walked to his desk and hit the intercom button. “Mr. Aida, my car.”
“Yes, sir,” Aida said over the intercom. “It’s waiting for you in the car pool.”
“Very good. I will be gone for a day or so, if anyone needs me.”
“Yes, sir.”
At the car pool, General Marttin’s driver awaited him with an open car door.
“Where are we going, sir?” his driver asked as General Marttin climbed inside.
“Calenda,” the general said. “A rundown monastery there.”
“Very well, sir.”
The driver shut the general’s door and got in the driver’s seat. The car took off.
Hidden behind another car, a dark-haired young man in military uniform watched the departing general. “Calenda,” he muttered. “A monestary there. Brian needs to know about this.”
Back at the abandoned church, Anya and Sister Harmony are in deep conversation inside the sanctuary.
“Now, Anya, you need to understand something,” Sister Harmony said. “As the Key, you have powers other than just to use or destroy the Scepter of Divinity. Those powers are just awakening now. That is what the power that Kallen gave to you is doing. It is awakening your powers.”
Anya gave her a skeptical look. “Powers like what? Psychic powers? Or magic?”
“From what I understand, you can do just about anything you want,” Sister Harmony said. “Try something.”
Anya shrugged. She stared at a piece of crumbled stone beside the altar. She imagined it rising into the air. Slowly, the stone did rise up. Startled, Anya gave a small cry, and the stone fell to the ground. “I…I made the stone float!”
“Yes, you did. Good job, Anya.”
“But, what else can I do?”
“I’m not sure, Anya. You’re just getting your powers. As they develop, though, you will be able to do just about anything. But I think it won’t be long before they are developed. It seems to me that they are developing rather quickly, if you can make something levitate on your first attempt.”
“You…you think so?”
“Yes. Which leads me to think we don’t have as much time as I thought we might.”
“What do you mean?”
The door to the sanctuary opened, and Brian came in with a dark-haired man in military uniform. They approached the two women sitting in the pew across from the altar.
“Anya, Sister Harmony,” Brian said, “this is a friend of mine. His name is Jason Peterson.”
“Hello,” Anya said. “You work for Military Intelligence, too, Mr. Peterson?”
“Please, call me Jason,” Jason said. “And yes, I do.”
“Did you know Kallen?”
“Kallen McCallister? Yes. He was a friend of mine. I’ll miss him. He was a good man.”
“Yes, he was.” Anya turned to Brian. “Brian, guess what! I made a stone float!”
“You did, did you?”
“Yes. Look. I’ll do it again.” She stared at another stone by the altar, and it rose into the air. Then it moved in a circle around the altar before settling back to the ground.
Brian and Jason watched in utter astonishment.
“A…Anya…”Brian stammered. “That…that’s incredible! What else can you do?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried to do anything else with my powers yet. But Sister Harmony says that when my powers have fully developed, I’ll be able to do just about whatever I want.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Sister Harmony said. “And they are developing faster than I had expected, too. And therefore I think we don’t have as much time as I had thought we would have. Something’s happened, I think. Am I right, Mr. Hawthorne?”
“Yes, Sister Harmony. That’s why Jason is here. He told me something very important.”
“What?” Anya and Sister Harmony asked at the same time.
“I was walking by General Marttin’s office, and heard him talking rather loudly. He said something about knowing where the super weapon was and called for his car. I hid, and as the general left his office, I followed him. I hid behind a car in the car pool and watched him leave. He told the driver to head for a rundown monestary in Calenda.”
“Calenda?” Sister Harmony asked.
“Yes. You know where he’s going?”
She nodded. “We must go there. Quickly. Things are progressing faster than I had thought.”
The Key, part 6
Calenda. A city-state bordering the city-state of Thalia. But where Thalia was primarily an urban area, Calenda was more rustic. Farm land prevailed, with only a few small urban areas. Calenda was also more religious. A fair number of monestaries could be found on the farm lands. Some monestaries had been abandoned long ago, but others were still in use. One such monestary has been given a great honor.
In the sanctuary, a group of monks sat in prayer. An altar sat against the far wall. On it a gold and ruby scepter lay. As the monks prayed, a bright light surrounded the scepter. The monks halted their prayers and gazed in awe at the sight.
"What does it mean?" one monk asked.
An elderly monk approached the altar. "It means the time is at hand," he said. "We must prepare ourselves. Evil approaches for the Scepter. But the Key comes as well."
In the abandoned church in Thalia, Anya, Brian, Sister Harmony, and Jason sat at a table with Nicodemus.
"So you see," Brian said, "we have to go to Calenda. If the Scepter is there, like General Marttin thinks it is, we have to stop him from getting it."
Nicodemus nodded. "Yes, he must not be allowed to get the Scepter. Go with my blessing. But one question. How will you get there?"
"Actually," Brian said as he looked at the table, "I was thinking of taking the Crawler." He looked at Nicodemus. "With your permission, of course, sir. It's your vehicle, after all."
Nicodemus fixed him with a stare. "You want to take my favorite off-road vehicle??"
"Yes. It has room for all of us, and will get us there faster than standard vehicles since we'd be able to go off-road."
Nicodemus stared at him a second longer, then sighed. "Oh, all right. But take good care of her. I don't want a scratch on her, Brian."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I promise, she won't get a scratch."
"Good. You know where she's hidden, right?"
"The abandoned warehouse on Shanch Street."
"Right. Okay, you all'd better get going. Time's wasting."
The group nodded at him and got up. Just as they did, gunfire sounded outside the church.
"Oh, no!" Anya cried. "They found us!"
"You all, go out the back way!" Nicodemus said. "We'll hold them off!"
"Sir..." Jason said.
"Do it! You don't have time to get involved in this! General Marttin already has a head start on you!"
"He's right," Sister Harmony said. "Preventing the general from getting the Scepter is our top priority."
Nicodemus nodded. "Now, GO!"
The group ran for the door in the back wall, and Nicodemus ran through the open door in the opposite wall to help the resistance group provide cover for the group.
General Marttin sat back in his car seat and watched the passing scenery through his car window. A bunch of farm land was all he saw.
"Calenda, all ready," he muttered. "We've made good time." A wicked smile crossed his lips. "Soon, I'll find the monestary mentioned in the report, and then I will have the Scepter. And then, all of Thalia will be under MY control."
He chuckled, then broke out into maniacal laughter.
The Key, part 7
Military soldiers assaulted the abandoned church with repeated gunfire. Resistance fighters returned fire from broken stained-glass windows. Children shot rocks at the soldiers with their slingshots. Some teens tossed pipe bombs through the windows at the soldiers. The explosions took out a few soldiers and vehicles. But the resistance was still outnumbered. Yet they continued to fight.
While all that was going on, Anya, Brian, Jason, and Sister Harmony slipped out the back door of the church. Brian led the group away from the church, taking them down a nearby street.
A soldier noticed them. “HEY!” he called. “That’s them! The ones General Marttin wants!” He fired a few shots in their direction. Soldiers near him took up the cry and added gunfire to his.
“Uh-oh,” Nicodemus said. “They’ve been spotted! Intensify your attack! Distract the soldiers from them!”
The soldiers who had seen the group were about to chase them down when the resistance increased their attack. They were forced to give up their chase and return fire.
“That was close,” Anya said as they ran down the street. “I thought we were caught for sure.”
“Not with Nicodemus watching over us,” Brian said. “He wouldn’t let the military get us. But that was a close one.”
“How far is the warehouse?” Sister Harmony asked.
“Not far,” Brian said.
He led them further down the street, turning left for a few blocks, then right for a few more, then left, then right, then left, then right…until the girls were totally lost.
Brian brought the troupe to a halt at an old, neglected warehouse. The stone building was crumbling, and the glass windows were broken and dusty. The roof had certainly seen better days. And the painted sign on the building was so faded it couldn’t be read. The large, heavy, metal doors to the building had their handles locked with a heavy chain. Both were very rusted. Something struck Anya as odd about the rust, though. She touched it.
“This is rust-colored paint!” she said.
“Yes,” said Brian as he pulled a key out of his pocket. “When we decided to make use of this building, we replaced the original door. But a new door on an otherwise crumbling building would draw unwanted attention, so we painted rust on it and the chain.” He stuck the key in the lock and turned it. He then undid the chains from the door handles and pushed the doors open. He stood aside.
“Ladies first,” Brian said, bowing and gesturing with an arm in imitation of a butler or doorman bidding someone entrance.
Anya and Sister Harmony cautiously entered the dark warehouse. Jason followed. Brian went in last.
Soldiers continued to attack the church and the resistance group to return fire. While Nicodemus watched from inside the church, a handful of soldiers approached the front door of the church with a metal battering ram.
“Barricade the door!” Nicodemus ordered. “Hurry!”
Resistance members rushed to follow his order, bringing whatever large pieces of furniture that they could and placing them against the door. As they did, the soldiers began hitting the door with the battering ram. The church resounded with the whamming of the battering ram. Gradually, the furniture was pushed back as the ram forced the heavy wooden doors inward.
“It’s not going to hold!” Nicodemus said. “Prepare yourselves! They’re coming in!”
General Marttin’s car pulled up to a little diner in one of Calenda’s few urban areas. The general looked at the grimy-looking building with distate but got out.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he told the driver, then went inside the diner.
General Marttin took a seat at a dirty window table. A waitress in a grease-stained apron approached.
“What’ll ya have?” she asked as she chomped on a piece of gum.
“Just a cup of coffee,” he said. “Black.”
“Right. One cup of coffee, coming up.”
The waitress left and the general stared out the window. A minute later, the waitress returned with a cup of coffee. She set it down in front of him.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“No, not right now.”
“All right. Holler if you need anything.”
She left. The general took a sip of coffee and nearly gagged. This tastes like sludge, he thought. How dare they try to pass this off as coffee!
A young man in military uniform slid into the seat across from the general.
“About time you showed up, Lieutenant,” the general said. “I should have you courtmartialed for setting up our meeting in this diner. They have terrible coffee.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the lieutenant said. “I should have warned you about that in my report.”
“Well, I hope you didn’t leave anything else out of your report.”
“No, sir. I believe I told you everything.”
“Good. So how far is the monestary?”
“About fifty miles, out in the middle of nowhere. Only a bunch of monks live there. They shouldn’t be too hard to take care of. That scepter is as good as ours, sir.”
“Good. Very good, Lieutenant. Lead the way.”
“Yes, sir.”
The general left money for his cup of coffee on the table and he and the lieutenant left the diner.
Brian pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on, making Anya and Sister Harmony yell and jump.
“Shush,” Brian said softly. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.” He shined the flashlight around the decrepit building. Stone littered the floor. Metal railings cast weblike shadows around the building. Cobwebs decorated the ceiling. A rat scurried across the floor. Brian focused the light on a large grate in the floor at the back of the building. “Jason, give me a hand,” he said.
Brian and Jason cleared stone from the grating, then grabbed hold of it and lifted. The grate remained in the ground.
“It…it won’t come up,” Jason said.
“It has to,” Brian said. “Let’s try again.”
They tried again. But the grating refused to move.
“It’s stuck,” Jason said.
“Let me try,” Anya said as she walked up to them. She stared at the grate, and imagined it lifting out of the ground and out of the way.
The grating moved in its place, bulging in the middle as if someone was trying to pull it up and out. Finally, it came out with a resounding pop. The grating floated off to the side, out of their way. Where the grating had been, a stone ramp led down into a dark hole.“There,” Anya said. “The grate is gone.”
“Th…thanks, Anya,” Brian said, still awed at her ability. He shook the feeling off. “Well, let’s go down.”
They walked down the ramp. At the end, Brian pulled on a cord hanging down from the ceiling. An overhead lightbulb turned on, illuminating a small room. In the room was only one thing: an enclosed jeep, painted black, that had oversized tires.
“There she is,” Brian said. “Nicodemus’s baby, the Crawler. Everyone, get inside.”
They did as he said, and then Brian started the Crawler up. The engine roared to life. He put her in gear.
“All right, guys,” he said, “here we go!”
He stepped on the gas pedal, and the Crawler fairly flew up the ramp.
The Key, part 8
Soldiers attacked the front door of the abandoned church with a battering ram while the rest of the squad provided cover fire. As the door was about to collapse in, a couple of soldiers tossed tear gas grenades into the church through broken stained glass windows. Then the door fell in and the squad charged inside the church. The coughing, crying group of resistance fighters hiding out in the church tried to fight back, but the tear gas was too strong and they were easily captured.
“General Marttin will be very pleased,” said the squad leader, who held a rifle pointed at a coughing Nicodemus. “All right now, let’s go, you miscreants!” He motioned with his rifle towards the collapsed door.
The resistance fighters filed outside the church, giving the soldiers looks of strong loathing as they did so.
General Marttin’s car drove along a country dirt road. The lieutenant rode in the front seat with the driver, to give directions. The general lounged in the back seat, staring out his window at the surrounding farmland.
“Turn here,” the lieutenant said, indicating a turnoff to the right.
The driver complied.
“We’ll be there soon, sir,” the lieutenant said over his shoulder to the general.
“Good,” General Marttin said distractedly. “Very good.”
The lieutenant pulled out a pocket radio and spoke into it. “Jergen, are you all in position?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Myers,” said Jergen via the pocket radio.
“Good. General Marttin and I will be arriving shortly. Make sure you and your team are ready to go when you get the signal.”
Brian drove the Crawler through the streets of Thalia, heading for the city limits. Along the way, they passed near the abandoned church that was the resistance’s hideout. He, Anya, Jason, and Sister Harmony all caught sight of the church as they looked down streets for any soldiers that might be following them. The scene in front of the church caused Brian to hit the brakes. The resistance fighters stood outside the church, their arms bound behind them. The squad of soldiers stood before them, training their guns on the helpless men, women, and children.
“Oh, my God!” Anya, beside Brian in the front seat, cried at the sight. “They’ve been captured! We have to do something!”
“But what can we do, Anya?” Jason said from the back seat, where he sat behind her. “Just go charging in there? They’d shoot us before we even got close.”
“I…I don’t know,” Anya said. “But we can’t just leave them to the mercy of the soldiers.”
“She’s right, though, Jason,” Brian said. “We can’t leave them to the mercy of the soldiers, since you and I both know they don’t have any mercy anyway.”
“True. Okay. Let’s see if we can help them.”
Brian drove the Crawler down the street towards the church, going slow so they wouldn’t be noticed. They watched the scene unfold before them.
The squad leader motioned for Nicodemus to step forward. Nicodemus did so defiantly.
“You, old man,” the squad leader said. “I take it you are the leader of this ragtag group. Correct?”
Nicodemus spat at his feet.
The squad leader frowned in disgust. “I would have thought an old man like you would have had some manners. Well, old man, since you are the leader of this group, I will give you the chance to lead them one more time.” He raised his rifle to point at Nicodemus’s chest. “You shall have the chance to lead them to the after life!”
He pulled the trigger.
The shot resounded down the empty streets.
A woman’s scream drowned out the shot’s echo. “NOOOO!”
The scream came from Anya.
The bullet halted in midair, inches from Nicodemus’s chest, then fell to the ground at his feet. His jaw, and the jaws of all the soldiers and resistance fighters, dropped, and their eyes widened in shock. Then the eyes of the soldiers glazed over, and they got confused looks on their faces. They looked at one another and the guns in their hands.
“Wha…what’s going on?” one soldier asked.
Soldiers around him shook their heads, not knowing the answer.
The squad looked all around them. Their glances passed over the church and the resistance fighters, but no recognition showed.
“What are we doing here?” the squad leader asked. “I don’t remember coming here. And who are all these people?” He paused for a second, trying to remember. He shook his head. “Well, come on, guys. Let’s go. It must have been a false alarm or something. We don’t need to be here.”
The sqaud of soldiers packed up and left as a very stunned group of resistance fighters watched.
When the soldiers were gone, Anya sighed in relief and settled back into her seat. The trio with her stared at her in shock.
“Her powers are definitely progressing rapidly,” Sister Harmony finally said. “Time is growing shorter. We must go.”
Brian snapped out of his stupor. “Ah…right. But first things first, Sister.”
The Crawler pulled up in front of the resistance fighters, and Brian and Jason got out. Brian went to Nicodemus as Jason set about freeing the other fighters.
“Are you all right, Nicodemus?” Brian asked as he worked on untying the old man’s hands.
“I…I’m fine, Brian,” Nicodemus said. “What happened? Why did the bullet just stop like that? And what happened to the soldiers?”
“It was Anya. She used her powers.”
“Ah…” Nicodemus said, nodding his head sagely. “I see. She’s got some great ability. Well, you all should get going. The general may already have the scepter.”
“Not yet. But at the rate Anya’s powers are increasing, he’s probably close. Don’t worry. We’re on our way. But will you all be all right?”
Nicodemus nodded. “We’ll be fine. Don’t worry. We’ll find another hiding place. Now, get going, Brian.”
“Right.”
Brian shook Nicodemus’s hand, then returned to the Crawler. Jason had already made his way back to the jacked-up jeep.
The Crawler took off for the city limits.
The Key, part 9
General Marttin’s car pulled up to a stop in front of a monestary standing out in the middle of a grassy field. Farther back behind the monestary, the field slowly turned into a stretch of forest. The driver and the lieutenant exited the car. The driver then opened the back door and the general climbed out.
“Wait here, Johnson,” General Marttin told the driver.
“Yes, sir.”
The general turned and looked at the tall stone building. “So,” he said. “This is where my super weapon is being held.”
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant said. “It took some doing and some cunning, but we tracked it down to this monestary.”
“Excellent, Myers. And your team is in position in case we need them?”
“Yes, sir. They are hidden in the forest and only await my signal.”
“Good. I hope it doesn’t come to having to call them in. I would prefer to do this in as much of a non-violent way as possible. It would make it so much easier, and would spare the budget the cost. But if the monks here don’t cooperate, we may have no choice but to use muscle.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Good. Well, let’s go in and see what happens, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir.”
The two walked into the monestary, with the lieutenant leading the way.
The Crawler made its way out of Thalia and started its cross-country journey.
“Sister Harmony…” Brian said as he tried to keep the jacked-up jeep on course.
“Yes, Mister Hawthorne?” replied the lady in the white nun’s habit.
“Uh…where is this monestary we’re looking for?”
“In Calenda.”
“I know THAT! I meant, where in Calenda is it?”
“Oh. Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place? Calenda is a rustic city-state compared to Thalia. It is mainly farmland, with only a few urban centers. Religion is very big in Calenda, also. Many monestaries have been built there over the centuries. Only some are in use, now, though.”
“Uh-huh. But where…”
“I was just coming to that!”
“Sorry.”
“For monks, and nuns as well, peace and quiet is necessary for mediation and prayer. So monestaries are normally built out in the country, away from the distractions of the urban environment.”
“So the monestary we want would be out in the country, and not in a city?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. That helps a little. Not much, since Calenda is mostly country, but a little. You wouldn’t happen to know exactly where the monestary is, would you?”
“Ummm…no.”
“Figures. So, how do we go about finding this needle in a haystack?”
“I…I don’t know. We could search each monestary…”
“But we’re in a hurry, and that’d take far too long.”
“Right. Well, I suppose I could pray for guidance.”
“I’m afraid to say it, but that looks like our only option right now. So go ahead, Sister. And who knows, it might work. God led you to us, you said. He might lead you where we need to go.” He looked at the speedometer. The needle pointed at 65 MPH. He pressed the accelerator, but the rough terrain prevented him from picking up much speed. He frowned. “I just wish there were some way we could move faster!”
“No problem,” said Anya.
The blonde girl touched the dashboard and the needle on the speedometer jumped to top speed.
“YAHOO!!!” Brian called as the jeep suddenly picked up speed and practically flew across the ground.
The general and the lieutenant made their way through the monestary without meeting a single monk.
“Where is everyone?” the general asked curiously.
“Perhaps it’s time for mass and they’re in the sanctuary,” the lieutenant suggested.
“Perhaps,” the general conceded. “Let’s check there.”
The two found their way to the sanctuary and entered. The sight of a dozen monks surrounding an altar on which lay a glowing gold and ruby scepter brought them to a sudden stop just inside the room.
“What the…” said the general.
An elderly monk at the front of the altar took a step forward. “You shall not have the scepter, evil one! Only the Key may be allowed to touch it! Be gone, vile one!”
“Looks like we won’t get the scepter peacefully, General Marttin,” said the lieutenant.
“Seems that way, Myers. So, do it.”
“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant pulled out his pocket radio. “Jergen, now!”
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
From the woods behind the monestary, a squad of armed soldiers ran out and into the monestary.
In the Crawler, Anya suddenly sat up straight. Her eyes widened and she gasped.
“What is it, Anya?” Brian asked in concern.
“Some…something’s happening….”
“I sense it, too,” said Sister Harmony. “We’ve got to hurry…” Her eyes suddenly unfocused, and a second later she pointed to the right. “Turn! Now!”
“Where?”
“The dirt road to the right!” Anya said. “Hurry!”
“Okay, okay!”
Brian cut the steering wheel sharply, and the Crawler skidded into a right turn. He straighted the jeep out and they headed down a dirt road.
“I certainly hope you two are right about this,” Jason said.
“We are,” Sister Harmony said, sounding a little distracted. Her eyes were still unfocused. “Don’t worry. We are correct.”
The Key, part 10
“Turn left!” Sister Harmony called hurriedly.
Brian followed her command, cutting the steering wheel sharply. The speeding Crawler swerved onto a dirt road on their left. He straightened the jeep out and they followed the road for a few minutes.
“Turn right!” Anya called.
Brian instantly did as she said, and after straightening the jeep out, he drove along that dirt road for a few minutes.
They’d been doing that for miles, taking turns telling him which way to turn. And because Anya had used her power to speed the jeep up to where they were going off road and traveling country backroads at well over 100 MPH, they’d covered an incredible distance in a short period of time. Brian only hoped they were going fast enough to get to the monestary in time.
“Turn left!” Anya called.
Brian obeyed.
“Turn right!” Sister Harmony called a couple of minutes later.
Brian did so.
“Now, follow this road to the end,” Anya said.
“You mean, we’re almost there?” Brian asked.
“Yes,” Sister Harmony said as she stared straight ahead with unfocused eyes. “The end is at hand. For better or for worse, this will all be over soon.”
“I certainly hope it’s for better,” said Jason from his seat beside the redhead in the white nun’s habit.
“We all do, Jason,” Brian said. “We all do.”
Silence prevailed after that as they traveled along the long dirt road.
A squad of soldiers ran into the sanctuary of the monestary, stopping just behind General Marttin and Lieutenant Myers at the doorway. The monks around the altar stared in reproach.
“How dare you bring weapons into this holy refuge?” the elderly monk at the front said. “Instruments of murder are an affront to God.”
“Then hand over the scepter, old man,” General Marttin said, “and we shall take our ‘instruments of murder’ and leave peacefully.”
“I am sorry, but only the Key may hold the Scepter of Divinity. So God wrote it, and so it shall be. Now be gone, vile ones!”
“Answer one question first. Who or what is this Key you mention?”
“The Key is the only person who can control the powers of the Scepter. And you are not that person.”
Hmmm, General Marttin thought. It sounds very powerful. I MUST have it. “Really?” he told the monk. “We’ll just see about that. Attack!”
The monks raised their cross-shaped amulets and began chanting.
The Crawler pulled to a screeching halt in front of an old monestary. Actually, they pulled up beside General Marttin’s car, which was parked in front of the front doors. The General’s driver stared at the jeep and watched in shock as the four people inside climbed out. Then he snapped out of it, pulled a handgun from the holster at his hip, and took aim at them. Brian and Jason pulled their guns and aimed back at him. Anya looked at his gun. The gun glowed red, and the driver screamed and dropped it. He held his burnt hand in his other hand. Anya then looked at the driver, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Brian and Jason looked at Anya, shocked. Her powers continued to amaze them.
“Come,” she said. “Let us go. It is almost time.”
“Yes,” Sister Harmony said. “The destined time is almost upon us.”
Brian and Jason exchanged nervous looks and nodded with apprehension to each other. The power they had witnessed so far from Anya, as well as Sister Harmony, had only been a taste, they knew, of the power they would witness later. That knowledge, as well as the knowledge that Anya’s power could either save or destroy the world, left them feeling queasy with fear. Still, they followed Anya and the nun inside the monestary.
As soon as they entered the monestary, they heard gunfire. The four broke into a run. Anya and Sister Harmony led the two men directly to the sanctuary, where they found soldiers standing inside the room, shooting up the place. A few of the dozen monks in the sanctuary lay on the ground beside the altar in pools of their own blood. The gold and ruby scepter atop the altar glowed with a brilliantly bright light.
The sight brought Anya to a halt in the doorway. The others stopped behind her. Rage filled her. She took a deep breath. Her long blonde hair flowed as if stirred by a breeze. “STOP!” she cried.
Bullets halted in midair, then fell to the ground. Soldiers froze in place. The guns they held disintegrated in their hands.
The monks still standing at the altar turned to look at her, as did Lieutenant Myers and General Marttin, who stood in the back of the sanctuary, where they’d gone to be safe from the line of fire.
The elderly monk’s eyes widened. “You,” he said. “You are the Key.”
General Marttin heard that and did a doubletake. “Miss Sorenson?” he said. “SHE is the Key?”
“Yes,” Anya said. “And you shall not have the Scepter, evil one. I will not allow it.”
“Oh?” General Marttin said. “Really?” His eyes widened, and suddenly turned red.
Brian and Jason looked at one another.
“Uh-oh,” they said at the same time.
They ran for cover.
Sister Harmony made her way over to the monks.
“Then I accept your challenge, girl!” General Marttin said with a deep, thunderous voice.
“Let’s do it,” Anya said.
The Key, part 11
Anya stood facing General Marttin in the sanctuary. Lieutenant Myers had run for cover, as had Brian and Jason. Sister Harmony had gone over to the altar to join the surviving monks.
A white light surrounded Anya, and her blonde hair flew as if a breeze blew it. General Marttin’s eyes glowed red.
“What’s going on?” Sister Harmony asked the monk nearest her.
“It appears they are going to battle,” he replied.
“Battle?”
“Yes. The Key is going to fight the Evil One, to prevent him from getting the Scepter.”
“The…Evil One? You mean, General Marttin is…”
“The Devil Incarnate? Yes.”
“Oh, my…Will Anya be able to defeat him?”
“We can only pray that she can. He will try all he can to get the Scepter for himself, or, failing that, to get her to use the Scepter. Either event will destroy the world.”
Sister Harmony nodded solemly. “Yes, I know that. It seems that all we can do is pray that she will win.”
Brian and Jason ducked into a monk’s bedroom and slammed the door shut. They took a seat on the lonely little cot and waited for their heaving chests to calm down.
“What…what was that?” Jason asked.
“I’m not sure,” Brian said. “Anya has grown incredibly powerful. As for the general…” He shrugged. “With all this religious, spiritual stuff going on, I’d say something’s either possessed him, or he was never what he seemed and has revealed his true self.”
“True self? What do you mean?”
“You saw how his eyes glowed red, right? Well, he’s probably some demon, or maybe even the Devil himself.”
Jason jumped up from the cot and faced Brian. “Oh, my God! And we’re just going to hide here like two measly cowards and leave Anya in there to face the Devil all by herself?”
“Well, what good could we do her? We’d just get in the way. There’s no way we can fight the Devil. We’d be killed easily. And even if we weren’t, we’d be a distraction to Anya during her fight. You know she’s the only one who can possibly take on the Devil and win.”
“True. But it just feels wrong to hide while she’s in there fighting to save the world.”
Brian thought for a second. “You have a point. What kind of man would run and leave a woman to fight alone? We might not be able to fight the Devil, but we can at least be nearby to provide Anya with moral and emotional support.”
“Yeah.”
Brian stood up. “Okay. Let’s head back.”
The two left the monk’s room to return to the sanctuary.
The Devil/General Marttin surveyed the sanctuary with his red eyes, looking at the altar surrounded by the monks and Sister Harmony, the rows of pews, and the motionless soldiers standing around.
“This place is too crowded,” he said with his deep, thunderous voice. “What do you say we move this fight to a roomier venue?”
“Suits me fine,” Anya said.
In a flash, Anya and the Devil/General Marttin stood in a wide-open area. The ground, shiny and solid like polished black marble, stretched out on all sides for as far as the eye could see. The sky was filled swirling red clouds. The altar from the sanctuay appeared a few yards to the left. On the altar laid the brightly glowing gold and ruby Scepter of Divinity, the prize of the contest.
The general bowed. “Correct. And you are the Key, the only person who can use the Scepter. Or so I’ve been told.”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, why don’t you use it?”
“I…I can’t. If I do, the world will be destroyed.”
“Oh, nonsense! How can using the scepter destroy the world if you can control it? And aren’t you curious to see what powers the scepter holds? Go on. Use it.”
She hesistated for a second. “N…No. I don’t want to chance it. Besides, I have no reason to use it.”
“No reason? Well then, how about this?”
The body of a dark-haired young man appeared at her feet.
She gasped. “Kallen!” she cried out.
“There you go,” the Devil/General Marttin said. “There’s a reason to use the scepter. Use its power to bring your love back to life.”
Anya dropped to her knees at Kallen’s side. Tears fell from her eyes to his chest.
The general laughed softly to himself.
“Kallen…” Anya said softly.
The scepter glowed brighter.
The Key, part 12
Brian and Jason sat on a pew in the sanctuary of the monestary. They stared at a cross that hung on the far wall, above where the altar would have been. Sister Harmony and the living monks knelt at that spot and prayed.
“I wonder how Anya’s doing,” Jason said.
“So do I,” Brian said. “I hope she’s doing all right.”
As he looked at the cross, he said a silent prayer that she would be all right.
Anya knelt on the hard black ground and cried over the body of her love while the Devil in the guise of General Marttin laughed softly.
“Oh, Kallen,” Anya said softly. “I miss you so much.”
Slowly, the brightly glowing Scepter of Divinity that lay on the altar a few yards to their left began to rise up. Then it floated over to where Anya was and hovered over Kallen. Anya stared at the gold and ruby scepter in surprise.
“Use the scepter, Anya,” the Devil/General Marttin said. “Use it and bring your love back to life.”
Anya swallowed hard and slowly reached for the scepter.
“Yes,” the general said. “Yes…”
Anya stopped before she touched the scepter. She stood up and shook her head. “No,” she said.
“No?”
“I won’t do it.”
“But, why not? Don’t you want Kallen back?”
“Yes, I do. Very much I do. But it wouldn’t be right. He’s in a better place now. So why should I bring him back to life only to have him die again soon after because my using the scepter destroyed the world? And even if the world isn’t destroyed, why should I remove him from the Heaven he’s in now to have him live in the Hell on Earth you’re creating in Thalia?”
The Devil/General Marttin growled. “Fine, then!” he yelled. The body of Kallen disappeared. The general stepped up. “I’ll use the scepter myself!” He reached out for the scepter.
Anya flinched in shock. “What?! NO! You can’t!” She reached out to stop him.
The ground shook even more violently, and loud claps of thunder sounded.
“I don’t like this,” Jason said nervously.
“Neither do I,” Brian said. He got up from his pew and went to a window. He peered out a clear section of the stained glass. “JASON! Come here!”
“What?” Jason asked as he got up and went to the window.
“Look out here!” Brian said.
Jason did so. “What in the…” he said in utter disbelief as he looked at the dark sky and red swirling clouds. The sun was high in the sky, as it should have been, but was in the process of being totally eclipsed by a blood-red moon. “Oh, my God! Brian! It’s…it’s…”
“The end of the world,” Brian said solemly, finishing his friend’s statement. “Anya’s failed.”
The Devil/General Marttin floated high in the sky over the monestary. He held the Scepter of Divinity high over his head and cackled madly. A pale red light poured from the scepter and traveled in all directions.
“MAYHEM!” he called wildly. “CHAOS! Spread forth over the entire world! HA HA HA HA HA!”
In Thalia, Calenda, and all the other city-states of the Earth, fighting and rioting broke out suddenly for no apparent reason. The local peacekeepers could do nothing to calm it down, so the heads of state had to call in their militaries to try to bring about peace. Martial law was declared all over.
But it still did no good. The fighting and rioting continued.
“YES!” the Devil/General Marttin called eagerly. “MORE!”
City-states suddenly declared war on each other. Armies were marshalled.
Anya suddenly appeared in the sky in front of the general. “NO!” she yelled. “NO MORE!”
“And what are you going to do, little one? You can’t stop me. And you can’t stop what I’ve started.”
“We’ll see about that,” Anya said.
She narrowed her eyes at him and held an open palm facing him. He jerked as if hit by a strong force, then entered a freefall to the ground. He hit the ground on his back, leaving an imprint of his body beneath him. The scepter fell from his hand and rolled away. The red light from it faded away
Anya appeared beside him. “You were saying?” she said.
He crawled up from the ground and stood before her. “That was a lucky shot. You won’t get another.”
“Oh, yeah?”
She held her palm facing him, and he flew back into the wall of the monestary.
The Devil/General Marttin peeled himself away from the building and stood glaring at Anya.
“That hurt,” he said. “Let’s see how you like it.”
He held his hand out at her and made a grasping motion. Anya clutched at her throat as if she were being choked. She suddenly swung around and flew into the side of the monestary. She slid to the ground, where she gasped for breath. The Devil/General Marttin walked up to her.
Brian and Jason then came running around the side of the building. They saw Anya on the ground and the general standing over her, and came to a halt.
“Anya!” Brian called.
Anya looked at him. “Brian!” she called.
The general turned around. “Ah,” he said. “Hello, Mr. Hawthorne, Mr. Peterson. You’ve come to play with us, have you? Well, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Maybe next time. Goodbye.”
He made a grasping motion towards them, and they clutched at their throats. Slowly, they fell to their knees, then collapsed facedown on the ground. The general laughed.
“Brian!” Anya called in horror. “Jason! No!” She growled and stood up. “You bastard!” she said to the general.
He turned to face her. “You want more, girl?”
“No. I’m ending this now.”
“Really? How so?”
“Like this.”
Anya walked up to him and kissed him. His eyes widened. She held the kiss long past the point where he could no longer breathe. She let go of him and he dropped to the ground. “The kiss of death,” she said. She then knelt down and twisted his kneck. “For good measure,” she said. She then stood up. “Now, where’s the scepter?”
Brian and Jason stirred on the ground. The noise of their groans caught Anya’s attention.
“Brian!” she called as she ran to them. “Jason! You’re all right?”
“Yeah,” Brian said as he and Jason sat up. “Just a little woozy.”
“Thank God! I thought he’d killed you.”
“Nope,” Jason said. “It’ll take more than that.”
“Like the end of the world,” Brian said.
That brought Anya back to reality, as intended. “Oh! Right! The scepter! Where is it?” She scanned the area, and saw it a few yards away. She ran to it, and stood beside it. Brian and Jason came up beside her.
“What will you do, Anya?” Brian asked. “How will you stop this?”
“I…I don’t know. If I use it, the world ends.”
“But it’s ending anyway,” Jason said.
“True. And if I destroy the scepter, the world as it is is saved.”
“A catch-22,” Brian said. “Is there no way around it?”
Anya thought for a minute. “Well, if I time it just right…”
“Yes?” Jason prompted.
“I can use the scepter to reverse what General Marttin did, and then before my use of the scepter can trigger the destruction of the world, I can destroy the scepter and save it.”
“That sounds pretty tricky,” Brian said. “How long would you have to pull it off?”
“Oh, probably a split second.”
“That’s it??” Jason said.
“Yeah.”
“Do you think you can do it?” Brian asked.
“I…I think so.”
“Well, then do it. If there’s any chance to save the world, you have to take it.”
“You’re right. I’ll do it.” She knelt down and picked up the scepter. A bright white light shone from it. She turned back to her friends. “Well, I’ll say goodbyes now,” she said. “It’s been nice knowing you. I hope to see you again, in Heaven.”
“Goodbye?” Brian asked. “What are you talking about, Anya?”
“You see, the destruction of the scepter will require all of my power as Key, as well as my lifeforce. I must give my life to save the world. So it was written, and so it shall be.”
Before Brian or Jason could say anything, Anya used the scepter. She raised it high overhead. A brilliantly bright white light shone from it and traveled around the world. All the fighting stopped. Peace between city-states was made. The red clouds disappeared from the sky, revealing a clear blue sky. A normal moon uneclipsed the sun.
Then Anya screamed and the scepter shattered. She collapsed to the ground at Brian’s feet.
“Anya!” he cried out, and knelt beside her. Jason knelt down next to him.
Anya looked up at them. “Goodbye,” she said softly. Her eyes unfocused. “Oh, Kallen,” she said, barely audible to her friends. “I’m coming. I’ve missed you so, my love…”
Her eyes closed, and she passed on to Heaven.
“Goodbye, Anya,” Brian said softly. “And thank you.” He kissed her cheek gently.
Sister Harmony and the monks came around the side of the monestary just then. Brian and Jason stood up and walked slowly towards them.
In the end they'll all be dancin'--all them ones that didn't die.... Dance with me in the shadows amidst the lightning and the thunder, and all that nu-cu-lar debris. See the big bang from the other side, and then open that cellar door. Go down into
The fortunate inherit riches, prestige, positive notoriety. Those not so lucky bear legacies filled with poverty, infamy or, worse yet, the unhinged insanity and murderous urges of their ancestors.
