The Centaur (35 page)

“Hold right there,” Lucio held up one hand and stopped his vociferous son.  “Please do not bore this lovely young lady to death with all these titles and airs. It is an honor to meet you, Miss Long.” The Knight of the Golden Eagle got up and bent over her hand, kissing it lightly.

“Oh, no, the honor is all mine, sir… I mean, your highness,” the girl was dying of embarrassment.

Lucio nodded and smiled and sat down next to his son. He leaned close to Vanni and whispered in his ear. “What tales have you been telling her about me?”

“Nothing that was not true.” Vanni smiled and continued to clap and nod to the music. “She has accepted my proposal of marriage. You will gain a daughter.”

“I see.” Lucio said shortly and cast a frown at Catharine. She shrugged apologetically. “And does she know about your little secret?”

“Little secret?” Vanni stopped nodding his head to the music and looked at his father in confusion.

“Yes, your daughter.”

“Oh, of course, but there is no need to worry about Polly. She will soon become Queen of the Center when she is wed to King Il Dolce Mio.”

“What?” Lucio frowned. The child had been just a tiny infant when he had seen her. How long had it been? Had he missed another important part of his life? He turned on Catharine.

“I didn’t know, Lucio,” she whispered. “I had no idea.”

The doors burst open again admitting Reuben d’Ornan and several more of the d’Ornan clan. The time had come for his speech and he wasn’t ready. As usual.

Chapter T
welve of Seventeen

The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace

shall be dissolved.

Inanna circled the water-filled pit cautiously, ready to flee at first sign of danger. She glanced at the sleeping gryphon, snoring peacefully a few dozen yards away. Something had changed, bringing her from a half slumber to full wakefulness. The area immediately surrounding the Giza complex of ancient monuments appeared just the same as it had since she had arrived. The landscape had dried fairly quickly, leaving behind only puddles in the low spots, but the water in the pit was different now. Instead of bubbles rising to the surface as before, the water was sloshing back and forth like a giant washing machine. There was something down there and she didn’t like it at all. She narrowed her deep green eyes and then drew in a deep breath, puffing up her neck to three times its normal size before laying down a long swath of sizzling green fire across the top of the rectangular pool. The surface boiled immediately and evaporated under the tremendous heat. When she blew out the last of her fire and refocused on the water, it was very still. A small cloud of steam rose into the air and dissipated quickly in the dry wind off the desert.

The ominous stillness of the formerly roiling water was even worse than the sloshing. She began to draw in a second breath. She would lay down enough fire to evaporate the entire thing and then she would see what was at the bottom of the mystery… literally. Just as she was about to blow out a second round of flames, a huge, gleaming black and gray shape erupted from the surface of the water.

Inanna gulped and barked and yelped, spouting sporadic gouts of fire as she scuttled backwards away from the pool. The water appeared to follow the shape partially into the air as a long cone and then collapsed with a huge splash. Some fell back in the hole. Some fell on the ground and some fell on the startled black dragon, soaking her and further frightening her. Roaring and bellowing in fright and rage, she fell back until she was halfway to the base of the Great Pyramid. She shook off the water and rose up on her hind legs, straining to see whatever it was that had taken flight from the mysterious pool. The thing swooped into the light blue desert sky, sleek and beautiful, trailing a thin stream of water from its long, slender tail. It vaguely resembled the rays that she had seen when she had glided through the murky waters of the ocean. It was shaped like a triangle with rounded corners. It flew high into the air, banked and shot back directly toward her. The dragon had no time to run before the flying beast buzzed over her only a bare few feet above the horns on her head. A fine mist fell around her. Before she ducked and tucked her head under wing, she saw a double row of gills on the underside and a horizontal slit that could only be a mouth. Inanna reared up, too late, and let go a small spout of flame and a roar. When her roar was answered by another roar, she spun around to the challenge, kicking up a dust storm with her wings, tail and feet. The gryphon was up. He
crouched on the far side of the rapidly emptying pool, snarling and showing his long incisor teeth.

Inanna jerked her head back and forth quickly, looking for the flying beast. It had been huge! But now it was rapidly disappearing on the horizon, flying low in a northeasterly direction. The dragon drew in a deep breath and let go a loud billow and tremendous blast of green fire toward the gryphon. The big cat had to leap into the pit to escape the flames and then growled fiercely as Inanna took flight after the Leviathan.

The cat climbed out of the muddy pit and began to lick its paws. A little longer and his pit would be dried and then he could go to bed and take another long, long nap. The gryphon yawned and rolled over on his back, exposing his wet belly to the warmth of the sun.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

The enormity of the flood issuing from the belly of the palatial complex was unbelievable. The streets of the city were completely flooded and the water was rising inside the buildings, filling basements, washing away everything out and down the streets toward the outskirts. Lemarik, Mark and Selwig crowded together on top of a crumbling mound of marble blocks, steel reinforcing rods and broken ceramic roof tiles. They slipped and slid and clung to each other as the water rose and more and more of their precarious island perch was washed away. Lucifer and his warriors had climbed in another direction, reaching a line of decorative trees that had once lined the street running in front of the palace walls. Some of them were perched in the trees and some were atop the ruined wall, walking and running up and down, pointing and watching the flotsam and jetsam than streamed up and out of the lower levels of the palace. Chairs and cushions, tables and vases, lamps and urns floated among boxes and barrels and cans and bottles. They were fascinated by the flow of debris and Mark Andrew was fascinated by the sight of the angels, stretching down to pluck various odds and ends only to examine them and then discard them again after curious discussion and nods of approval or shakes of disapproval. They seemed completely oblivious to the plight of the three stranded people across the way.

The water inched upward and the roar of the geyser spraying up some twelve to fifteen feet from the mouth of what used to be the garage drowned out their voices. Their shouts went unheeded as they tried to call for help. Mark could have simply let go and taken his chances in the flood, but he couldn’t take Selwig with him. Lemarik was doing his best to hold on to the Tuathan. He did not have his purple cloak with him. Of course he could have changed into a dolphin as Omar had done and swam away, but Selwig couldn’t do such a trick.

“I’m going to jump over there!” Lemarik pointed to a nearby mound that was a few feet higher and seemed a bit more stable. “When I get over there, toss the little one over to me!”

“
Noooo!” Selwig clung to the Djinni’s arm. “I don’t want to be tossed!”

“Selwig, let go of Lemarik,” Mark leaned close to the Tuathan. “Let go! We have to get off this wreckage before it goes. It looks better over there.”

“I can catch you.” Lemarik extricated himself from the grip of the healer and climbed to the very shaky promontory of the pile. He swung his arms back and forth a few times and then leaped flat-footed across the intervening space, crashing down on the neighboring mound. He teetered and tottered for several seconds and then caught hold of a broken lamp post.

“Come on now!” He shouted and held out one hand. The water was lapping at their boots and rising.

Mark climbed to the same peak and tested it quickly for stability before helping the frightened Tuathan up after him.

“Now, I’m going to have to spin around for momentum and then throw you across. You have to let go when I say now. Do you hear?” Mark turned the healer to face him. He took the straps of the yellow bag and slung it over his own shoulder before taking hold of his arms just below the wrist. Selwig stared at him in horror and disbelief, holding Mark’s wrists in a death-grip. He nodded, unable to speak.

Mark began to turn in circles very rapidly and the Tuathan was thrown outward like a small child, shrieking wildly the entire time. On the third time around, Mark shouted “Now!” at the top of his lungs.

Selwig hesitated only a split second before releasing his grip on Mark’s arms, but it was a split second too long. The toss went wild and the hapless healer missed the Djinn by a yard. Lemarik shrieked, Selwig screamed and Mark cursed as the healer hit the dark water and disappeared below the surface.

Both the Djinn and the Knight jumped into the water at the same time when the soaked Tuathan bobbed to the surface several feet further on. He slapped the surface and grabbed hold of a plastic jug in desperation. He shouted and gurgled and spit as the current spun him around like a cork bobbing away downstream. His two would-be rescuers floundered after him as best they could amidst the floating rubble.

The angelic warriors had all stopped their activities and were staring and pointing after them as if they were now curious pieces of flotsam carried on the tide, but none were within reach and none of them jumped into the swirling morass to aid them. It seemed that they perhaps thought that the three hapless companions had jumped in on purpose. Within moments, Lemarik had shed his glittering armor for the smooth purple skin of the dolphin. He nosed his way through the ruin quickly and nudged the healer up on his nose. He circled around and Mark caught hold of his dorsal fin and they began to make their way as carefully as possible through the treacherously jagged ruins of Omar’s palace.

The water continued to pour in an ever increasing torrent from what had been the ruins of the underground garage. Enough murky brown water was flowing through the rubble piles with enough force to move large hunks and chunks of rock, stone and metal. Lemarik found a sizable portion of the south wall still intact and helped nudge his two drownees upon the wall. Mark climbed up first and pulled the healer up behind him. They stood on the wall, dripping and breathing hard, watching the purplish fin rise and fall with the rushing current that swirled around the destroyed gates and into the street.

“He’ll be crushed!” Selwig shouted and pointed at an upended van that was being pushed along behind the dolphin.

“He’ll be all right!” Mark shouted above the roar of the water. The angels were evacuating the area now, climbing into the treetops and leaping onto the balconies and fire escapes of the nearest buildings still standing. None of them even looked back, but left Mark and Selwig stranded on the treacherously narrow section of wall that was no more than three feet wide and twelve feet long. Water rushed around it at both ends, wearing it away in small pieces as the flotsam and jetsam slammed and banged against the jagged edges of the broken stones. “We have to get off this wall!” He shouted and felt a sense of déjà vu, but there was no where to go. The water was steadily rising, not more than six feet below where they stood. Mark had no idea how much water would be brought up from the ‘founts of the earth’ by the Queen Mother’s temper tantrum. Abaddon had apparently given away too much. She would be much harder to subdue in her natural form and he doubted seriously that Omar had done anything more than get himself killed or destroyed. Lemarik would no doubt be trying to find his ‘beautiful son’ and they could expect no more help from that quarter for the time being.

“Where will go?” Selwig looked around at the flood and then up at Mark in complete trust.

“The question is not where, little friend, it is how we’ll get there,” Mark frowned and knelt on one knee. The motion of the water was actually making him dizzy. A battered refrigerator banged against the wall, skittered down the side and wedged against a log jam of sorts near one end of their perch. The door had been torn off and it was floating on its back. The interior was empty and relatively free of water. Mark scooted down the wall and the Tuathan followed closely behind him.

“Help me get hold of that thing!” Mark shouted and got down on his stomach, straining to reach the side of the refrigerator.

“Oh, noooo!” Selwig backed away. “I’m not getting in there!”

“Oh,
yeeeessss, you are,” Mark grabbed his ankle.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

“I say we remove ourselves from the danger and take stock of our options. Reassess and decide what should be our next move,” Meredith turned a look of expectancy on Semiramis. She had come to know that the goddess was not too far removed from her own brand of thinking. Semiramis would have made a good cowgirl in Texas.

“I agree,” Semiramis gave her a raised eyebrow and nodded her approval. “We can do no more here. It seems that someone has tipped her off. She apparently knows that her consort will not be returning. I believe that it was the only reason she stayed for so long. Surely such a powerful creature would have spies in the land.”