With the desperate intent of gaining quickly on their German 'friends', Rick drove the truck, thanking God that the Sahara did not come equipped with speed limits. As he drove, Rick explained to his fiancé what exactly had happened over the past few days…how Ardeth had found and saved Suzette, the Germans-Greta, Gerhard, and Josef, the pendant and its power, the boat-trip…everything (except, he did manage to leave out the part about him running into the parked car. After all, Rick figured, that really wasn't really too relevant to the situation!).
"I can't believe you were going to go with out me!" Evelyn exclaimed, eyebrow raised.
"Come on, Evy, you were in Dublin! We couldn't just say 'hold up your scheme for conquering the world, we have to wait for Evelyn Carnahan to get home.'" Rick kidded, giving his fiancé a winning smile.
"Fine, fine. I see your point." Evelyn sighed.
"I'm glad you're here now, though." Rick told her, trying to make her feel a bit better.
"Yes, you should be glad. I saved your necks back in that store!" Evelyn agreed with just a touch of self-righteousness.
"And I'm very, very grateful for that." Rick winked.
"That French girl…she seems to fit right in with this." Evelyn remarked, smiling still.
"Suzette? Yeah, she's a plucky little thing. Or, at least, she learned how to be really quickly." Rick agreed.
Evelyn nodded, then she suddenly turned serious.
"I hope Ardeth is all right. He needs medical attention." Evelyn realized, sighing heavily. The Med-Jai was their trusted friend, and had helped them before. They owed it to him to make sure he pulled through.
"I know. I hope we can stop them soon…I don't know how long he can hold out." Rick agreed somberly.
"I'll check on them." Evelyn suggested.
Rick nodded, and Evelyn turned around in her seat, pushing open the back window that opened out to the bed of the car. Jonathan and Suzette looked up as Evelyn peered out at them.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
"We're fine." Jonathan called back, and Evelyn smiled at her brother, shutting the window.
Things had been subdued in the truck-bed. All three had much to think about. Suzette and Jonathan had been carefully checking Ardeth, who was fading in and out of consciousness, but seemed somewhat stable. Suzette was cursing herself, how this was all a result of her and the stupid pendant. Jonathan was mulling over his dream, how Ardeth had seen the same thing, and what it all could mean.
"I hope we can…" Suzette sighed, and trailed off.
Jonathan looked up at her. "Me too." He then mustered up a smile, seeing how distraught the French girl appeared. Suzette mustered up her own smile, and then they both smiled for real, laughing at how ridiculous they looked, trying to be cheery and happy.
"I still can't believe…damn if I had only taken that broker up on his damned thirty francs." Suzette sighed roughly, pulling her hand through her hair.
"Thirty francs?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Oui. I was trying to hock the necklace." Suzette explained.
"Why? I would think…well, hasn't it been in your family for a while?" Jonathan asked, confused.
"Since the Napoleonic Wars. Which, is exactly why I wanted to sell it. See…and I know this probably sounds like the epitome of clichéd occurrences…that damned pendant has brought my family more misfortune than you could imagine. Alexandre Bonnvillian, who took the necklace originally, lost both legs in Marengo…he died destitute. Since then, we've had everything: death, bankruptcy, fires, mortal enemies...the works! And my father…he was captured during the Great War, at Verdun, wearing the pendant. He barely survived by eating his shoe leather. And…Papa died three years back…leaving me by myself. And, it seems, the damned thing is still brining me bad luck." Suzette explained harshly, her voice dipping over the rushing wind.
"Wow…rough go, there. I can see why you wanted to sell it…" Jonathan sighed, then allowed a tiny smile. "But, then again, if you did, you never would have met us." He cracked.
"Mon Dieu, couldn't have that, now could I?" Suzette winked at the Brit, joining Jonathan as the two of them started to laugh a bit. But they stopped immediately when Ardeth let out a fevered moan of pain.
"He needs help…more than we can give." Suzette sighed, taking the Med-Jai's hand in hopes he would take some solace from her presence. Perhaps he did, because Ardeth stopped muttering and lay still again. The blood was staining the bandage Rick had used, and it was obvious the Warrior was suffering greatly.
"I know…but there's nothing we can do right now. We have to stop…" Jonathan started sadly, and Suzette joined him as he finished, so they surmised in unison: "those damned Krauts."
Suddenly, something struck Suzette.
"You saw Greta, in your dream…and apparently so did Ardeth." She questioned quietly, looking up at the Brit with an inquiring expression.
"Yes…why?" Jonathan returned, tilting his head in confusion at the French girls query.
"I…I'm not sure. It's just…well…it's odd. Why she would appear in your dream, before you even knew who she was. Do you…do you think that could mean anything?" Suzette persisted, still in that soft, musing tone of voice.
"Unfortunately, I think it could." Jonathan nodded softly.
"I think…I think she's the one we need to take care of. She's the important one." Suzette deliberated, and Jonathan nodded as Ardeth softly whimpered again. Suzette looked down at the Med-Jai, almost in pain herself.
"Damn." Jonathan whispered.
The truck sped on.
***
The outpost was, indeed, abandoned, and had been so for years, apparently. The small fort that had once stood had collapsed in on itself, and the stable building looked as if it had been a victim of a fire. A few sickly-looking palm trees rattled in the hot desert wind, and the sand formed whispy ghost-looking trails along the ground.
Josef pulled up to the abandoned outpost and exited the car. Gerhard followed, then Greta pushed the passenger door open and stepped into the blistering Sahara afternoon.
The pendant looked almost like a turquoise fire, flickering and reflecting off Greta's eyes.
"Here we are." Josef smirked, looking around, his eyes anxious and hungry.
"Yes." Greta nodded. Her voice had changed completely. No longer did she speak with a bright German accent, as she had previously…now her words echoed with an Eastern intonation, an ancient-sounding inflection, as if she was used to speaking a language long lost and buried in the Sahara sands.
"Do you know where to go next?" Gerhard asked her, his voice full of anticipation. They were so close! And even if the American, the Britisher, the French girl, and the others did managed to catch up with them, it would be much too late. Plus, with that damned Med-Jai out of the way, the others would have no chance against them.
Greta lifted the burning pendant, and closed her eyes, drawing from it. The air almost cackled with heat and the electricity of something dangerous waiting on the horizon.
"Yes…a little ways…follow me. The spot where the Warrior-King fell, yes, that is where we shall be able to harness his prophecy." Greta nodded.
Josef and Gerhard smirked at each other.
Greta started off, walking fluidly, quickly, her feet not even seeming to touch the sand. Josef and Gerhard followed.
They walked for a few moments, and then Greta stopped abruptly. A small outcrop rose, seemingly, out of the sand, casting a small shadow on the other-wise flat desert. Greta motioned for Josef and Gerhard to hang back, and the German woman knelt softly on the uneven sand, in the shadow of the rock.
"Here he fell." She murmured, more to herself than her two companions, and traced a small circle in the sand.
Josef and Gerhard watched in amazement as the circle Greta had traced began to glow the same eerie aquamarine as the pendant.
Smiling, looking positively evil in the new, sinister light, Greta slipped the necklace off and placed it in the glowing circle. She bowed her head and cried out something in an odd language, totally incomprehensible to Josef and Gerhard. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and heave, the sand rising in falling with the motion of the earth, and an unexpected beam of turquoise light shot up from the circle.
Greta cried out louder in the ancient tongue, and the light grew brighter, stronger, reaching almost to the sky. A whirling vortex of clouds surrounded the beam, and the quiet Sahara was shattered with a thundering noise, echoing, roaring from all sides.
The noise of an approaching army, the cry of thousands upon thousands of blood-thirsty soldiers, bearing down on the center of aquamarine radiance.
Josef and Gerhard stared at each other again, but this time their triumph was mixed with just a touch of fear.
***
Rick had parked the truck at the outpost when the earthquake hit, and Evelyn jumped out after her fiancé. In the bed of the truck, Jonathan and Suzette stood up, looking around in confusion as the ground heaved and shook violently.
"What's going on?" Jonathan demanded.
"It's happening…now, she…she started…" Ardeth muttered feverishly, opening his eyes and picking his head up.
"What's happening? What's started?" Suzette cried, dropping to her knees beside the Med-Jai.
"Look…" Ardeth whispered, his eyes growing wide suddenly.
Suzette stood again, and Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder, motioning to the sky, which had quickly become an evil shade of turquoise; a swirling bank of impossible clouds accompanied the light, and a sound…a cacophony of thunder and screams filled the air.
"Oh my God…" Rick cried.
This was going to be harder than he had thought.
"I can't believe you were going to go with out me!" Evelyn exclaimed, eyebrow raised.
"Come on, Evy, you were in Dublin! We couldn't just say 'hold up your scheme for conquering the world, we have to wait for Evelyn Carnahan to get home.'" Rick kidded, giving his fiancé a winning smile.
"Fine, fine. I see your point." Evelyn sighed.
"I'm glad you're here now, though." Rick told her, trying to make her feel a bit better.
"Yes, you should be glad. I saved your necks back in that store!" Evelyn agreed with just a touch of self-righteousness.
"And I'm very, very grateful for that." Rick winked.
"That French girl…she seems to fit right in with this." Evelyn remarked, smiling still.
"Suzette? Yeah, she's a plucky little thing. Or, at least, she learned how to be really quickly." Rick agreed.
Evelyn nodded, then she suddenly turned serious.
"I hope Ardeth is all right. He needs medical attention." Evelyn realized, sighing heavily. The Med-Jai was their trusted friend, and had helped them before. They owed it to him to make sure he pulled through.
"I know. I hope we can stop them soon…I don't know how long he can hold out." Rick agreed somberly.
"I'll check on them." Evelyn suggested.
Rick nodded, and Evelyn turned around in her seat, pushing open the back window that opened out to the bed of the car. Jonathan and Suzette looked up as Evelyn peered out at them.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
"We're fine." Jonathan called back, and Evelyn smiled at her brother, shutting the window.
Things had been subdued in the truck-bed. All three had much to think about. Suzette and Jonathan had been carefully checking Ardeth, who was fading in and out of consciousness, but seemed somewhat stable. Suzette was cursing herself, how this was all a result of her and the stupid pendant. Jonathan was mulling over his dream, how Ardeth had seen the same thing, and what it all could mean.
"I hope we can…" Suzette sighed, and trailed off.
Jonathan looked up at her. "Me too." He then mustered up a smile, seeing how distraught the French girl appeared. Suzette mustered up her own smile, and then they both smiled for real, laughing at how ridiculous they looked, trying to be cheery and happy.
"I still can't believe…damn if I had only taken that broker up on his damned thirty francs." Suzette sighed roughly, pulling her hand through her hair.
"Thirty francs?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Oui. I was trying to hock the necklace." Suzette explained.
"Why? I would think…well, hasn't it been in your family for a while?" Jonathan asked, confused.
"Since the Napoleonic Wars. Which, is exactly why I wanted to sell it. See…and I know this probably sounds like the epitome of clichéd occurrences…that damned pendant has brought my family more misfortune than you could imagine. Alexandre Bonnvillian, who took the necklace originally, lost both legs in Marengo…he died destitute. Since then, we've had everything: death, bankruptcy, fires, mortal enemies...the works! And my father…he was captured during the Great War, at Verdun, wearing the pendant. He barely survived by eating his shoe leather. And…Papa died three years back…leaving me by myself. And, it seems, the damned thing is still brining me bad luck." Suzette explained harshly, her voice dipping over the rushing wind.
"Wow…rough go, there. I can see why you wanted to sell it…" Jonathan sighed, then allowed a tiny smile. "But, then again, if you did, you never would have met us." He cracked.
"Mon Dieu, couldn't have that, now could I?" Suzette winked at the Brit, joining Jonathan as the two of them started to laugh a bit. But they stopped immediately when Ardeth let out a fevered moan of pain.
"He needs help…more than we can give." Suzette sighed, taking the Med-Jai's hand in hopes he would take some solace from her presence. Perhaps he did, because Ardeth stopped muttering and lay still again. The blood was staining the bandage Rick had used, and it was obvious the Warrior was suffering greatly.
"I know…but there's nothing we can do right now. We have to stop…" Jonathan started sadly, and Suzette joined him as he finished, so they surmised in unison: "those damned Krauts."
Suddenly, something struck Suzette.
"You saw Greta, in your dream…and apparently so did Ardeth." She questioned quietly, looking up at the Brit with an inquiring expression.
"Yes…why?" Jonathan returned, tilting his head in confusion at the French girls query.
"I…I'm not sure. It's just…well…it's odd. Why she would appear in your dream, before you even knew who she was. Do you…do you think that could mean anything?" Suzette persisted, still in that soft, musing tone of voice.
"Unfortunately, I think it could." Jonathan nodded softly.
"I think…I think she's the one we need to take care of. She's the important one." Suzette deliberated, and Jonathan nodded as Ardeth softly whimpered again. Suzette looked down at the Med-Jai, almost in pain herself.
"Damn." Jonathan whispered.
The truck sped on.
***
The outpost was, indeed, abandoned, and had been so for years, apparently. The small fort that had once stood had collapsed in on itself, and the stable building looked as if it had been a victim of a fire. A few sickly-looking palm trees rattled in the hot desert wind, and the sand formed whispy ghost-looking trails along the ground.
Josef pulled up to the abandoned outpost and exited the car. Gerhard followed, then Greta pushed the passenger door open and stepped into the blistering Sahara afternoon.
The pendant looked almost like a turquoise fire, flickering and reflecting off Greta's eyes.
"Here we are." Josef smirked, looking around, his eyes anxious and hungry.
"Yes." Greta nodded. Her voice had changed completely. No longer did she speak with a bright German accent, as she had previously…now her words echoed with an Eastern intonation, an ancient-sounding inflection, as if she was used to speaking a language long lost and buried in the Sahara sands.
"Do you know where to go next?" Gerhard asked her, his voice full of anticipation. They were so close! And even if the American, the Britisher, the French girl, and the others did managed to catch up with them, it would be much too late. Plus, with that damned Med-Jai out of the way, the others would have no chance against them.
Greta lifted the burning pendant, and closed her eyes, drawing from it. The air almost cackled with heat and the electricity of something dangerous waiting on the horizon.
"Yes…a little ways…follow me. The spot where the Warrior-King fell, yes, that is where we shall be able to harness his prophecy." Greta nodded.
Josef and Gerhard smirked at each other.
Greta started off, walking fluidly, quickly, her feet not even seeming to touch the sand. Josef and Gerhard followed.
They walked for a few moments, and then Greta stopped abruptly. A small outcrop rose, seemingly, out of the sand, casting a small shadow on the other-wise flat desert. Greta motioned for Josef and Gerhard to hang back, and the German woman knelt softly on the uneven sand, in the shadow of the rock.
"Here he fell." She murmured, more to herself than her two companions, and traced a small circle in the sand.
Josef and Gerhard watched in amazement as the circle Greta had traced began to glow the same eerie aquamarine as the pendant.
Smiling, looking positively evil in the new, sinister light, Greta slipped the necklace off and placed it in the glowing circle. She bowed her head and cried out something in an odd language, totally incomprehensible to Josef and Gerhard. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and heave, the sand rising in falling with the motion of the earth, and an unexpected beam of turquoise light shot up from the circle.
Greta cried out louder in the ancient tongue, and the light grew brighter, stronger, reaching almost to the sky. A whirling vortex of clouds surrounded the beam, and the quiet Sahara was shattered with a thundering noise, echoing, roaring from all sides.
The noise of an approaching army, the cry of thousands upon thousands of blood-thirsty soldiers, bearing down on the center of aquamarine radiance.
Josef and Gerhard stared at each other again, but this time their triumph was mixed with just a touch of fear.
***
Rick had parked the truck at the outpost when the earthquake hit, and Evelyn jumped out after her fiancé. In the bed of the truck, Jonathan and Suzette stood up, looking around in confusion as the ground heaved and shook violently.
"What's going on?" Jonathan demanded.
"It's happening…now, she…she started…" Ardeth muttered feverishly, opening his eyes and picking his head up.
"What's happening? What's started?" Suzette cried, dropping to her knees beside the Med-Jai.
"Look…" Ardeth whispered, his eyes growing wide suddenly.
Suzette stood again, and Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder, motioning to the sky, which had quickly become an evil shade of turquoise; a swirling bank of impossible clouds accompanied the light, and a sound…a cacophony of thunder and screams filled the air.
"Oh my God…" Rick cried.
This was going to be harder than he had thought.