Greta could not see, could not hear…could not even feel. Everything around her had reduced itself to the thunderous heaving of the approaching army, as if the Earth itself had split in half, and something horrible was roaring out.
A small voice echoed in her head. A German voice…her own: 'What have I done? What have I done…'
And then laughter! Of all things, laughter! Gerhard and Josef's, and Greta opened her eyes. She was still kneeling, and the sky had turned a dark black, the world shadowed but for the turquoise light, still spiraling upwards from the pendant. And all around her, from each direction, the Armies of the Desert came.
Led by an ancient Warrior-King.
Directed by odd impulses almost shooting up from the pendant, Greta closed her eyes again and lowered her hands over the jewel, almost touching it but not quite.
***
"What do we do!?" Suzette shrieked above the odd, frightening roar, Jonathan still grasping her shoulder, in fear himself. Ardeth tried to push himself up but cried out in pain. He whispered something, but the wind tore it away, and the wounded Med-Jai felt as if he was totally devoid of strength.
Rick looked around wildly. This was obviously much bigger, much worse than he had imagined, and, honestly, he had no clue what to do. But Evelyn was holding on to him tightly, and Jonathan and Suzette were staring at him from the truck bed anxiously. Rick knew he would have to come up with something…he was expected to.
"We have to…we have to…" Rick started, fumbling for some sort of assurance.
"The pendant!" Ardeth managed to cry out in a raspy, rough voice. Suzette and Jonathan's eyes widened and they turned from Rick, kneeling down next to the Med-Jai. Suzette blinked slowly and took his hand.
"The pendant…what about it?" She asked softly, barely audible above the wind. Ardeth heard, though.
"You must…destroy it." Ardeth whispered, but Suzette and Jonathan caught it.
"Of course! You always have to destroy the bloody thing…that's always the damned answer." Jonathan nodded excitedly, and stood up.
"We have to destroy the pendant!" He told Rick and Evelyn.
"How?" Evelyn queried. Jonathan looked back down at Ardeth and Suzette, but Suzette only gave him a wide-eyed stare. Ardeth had passed out once more. Jonathan sighed.
"I don't know." He returned.
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting whoop, and unearthly war-cry that seemed to echo from everywhere, all at once.
"We have to do something…NOW!" Rick cried.
"We have to destroy that bloody thing." Jonathan restated.
"I know, I know. Jonathan, come with us! Suzette, you stay with Ardeth…we'll call if we need you!" Rick commanded. Jonathan turned back to Suzette, who was looking up in alarm, her eyes conveying her fear at being left alone with the unconscious Med-Jai.
"It's all right. You'll be fine. We'll take care of them, just make sure he's okay." Jonathan assured the French girl softly, who was now looking much younger than her eighteen years.
"Oui." Suzette nodded, scared. Jonathan gave her a brave smile, then jumped out of the truck and he, Evelyn, and Rick ran off in the direction of the deafening cry.
***
Josef and Gerhard saw them approach, and cried out in irritation. Only a few brief moments, and the ritual would be complete, the Armies of the Desert ready to do the two Germans' bidding, and the three had to come and interrupt them! It was only the American, the Englishman, and that woman…the French girl and the Med-Jai were nowhere to be seen. Of course, the Med-Jai was probably dead, the two Germans realized with identical smirks.
"What the hell is going on here!?" The American…Rick, or something like that…demanded of them angrily, gesturing the cloudy sky and the swirling turquoise light.
The unearthly war-whoop sounded again, and the earth began to shake with the approaching vibrations of countless horses, bearing countless soldiers.
The Armies of the Desert.
"What do you think?" Gerhard smirked calmly, and motioned to Greta, who was still kneeling down by the pendant.
"Damn, its started." Rick remarked.
"What the bloody hell did you think was happening before!?" Jonathan demanded, raising an incredulous eyebrow.
"Shut up." Rick sighed.
"Don't you realize what you're doing!? You could kill us all!" Evelyn shouted at Gerhard and Josef.
"We know exactly what we're doing." Josef spat, and then everything exploded in a fiery mass of white light. Evelyn, Jonathan, Rick, Gerhard, and Josef dove to the ground, covering themselves as best they could, trying to hold out against the blinding light.
Then it cleared.
The wind stopped.
The clouds were gone.
But not the hoof-beats.
Rick was the first up. He turned around slowly, and his mouth flew open as he beheld what was fast approaching them. An immense army, comprised of all echelons of troops, in every type of uniform, on every type of horse. The eclectic, chaotic force seemed to move with a driving cohesion, though.
Jonathan gasped. It was his dream! His dream…and Ardeth's vision, exactly! The troops, and the Leader…the imposing, intimidating Warrior-King on his elegantly powerful black Arabian stallion. Only, in this reality, the stallion was not wearing a bridle.
And Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan understood that the Germans would use the pendant that they had stolen from Suzette to gain control of that immense Army. Whoever had the bridle…or, part of the bridle, at least…was the real leader of the powerful force barreling towards them.
"Now! It is time!" Gerhard exclaimed, giddily and almost threateningly maniacal.
"NO!" Rick cried, and he dashed forward, trying for the pendant, but Josef jumped forward and clashed with the American. They both fell, fighting angrily, roughly, Rick using all his urgency, his fear, to beat the living hell out of the damned German. Meanwhile, Jonathan, sensing the need to distract Gerhard, threw his handgun to his sister, who looked at him with big eyes.
The Warrior-King was fast approaching, and behind him came the enormous Army.
"Distract him!" Jonathan mouthed to his sister, motioning to Gerhard, who was dividing his attention between the coming Army and the fight between Josef and Rick, watching both with a twisted smile of pleasure. Rick and Josef seemed almost evenly matched, tussling ferociously in the sand, both of them bloodied and beaten.
Evelyn stared at the hand gun and then shot it in the direction of the coming Army. Gerhard turned to her in anger, and Evelyn shot again. The enraged German advanced upon her.
"Come on, that's right! Come and get me!" Evelyn challenged, trying to sound like Rick did when he was baiting the bad guy. Of course, with her cultured English accent it did not work as well, but Gerhard was so power-mad and blindly furious that accentual inadequacies did not exactly matter to him.
Evelyn shot the small gun again, still in the direction of the encroaching Army, and Jonathan took his chance as Gerhard rushed over.
Jonathan dashed past Josef and Rick, casting a backwards glance at them. Rick caught Jonathan's eye and winked, wincing a bit in pain, mouthing for Jonathan to go on ahead…he could keep Josef busy. Jonathan nodded and reached the epicenter of the whole situation.
The pendant. And Greta.
The German woman was kneeling, her eyes closed and her hands just above the aquamarine gemstone. She looked removed from the noise and confusion, and Jonathan figured it would be easy to sneak up on her and take the pendant.
But, as was the usual course of events, Jonathan was wrong.
Well…sneaking up on the woman was easy enough, as he had predicted, but taking the pendant was not. As Jonathan reached out for the jewel, something that felt like burning electricity shot through his body. The Englishman cried out and fell back, blinking to clear his vision.
He could not touch the pendant!
***
Suzette had never been so frightened. When the white light had exploded out of nowhere, she had thrown herself on top of the still-unconscious Ardeth in an attempt to protect him from what was coming. Then, when the light had dissipated and the cry had sounded, Suzette had stood, shading her eyes against the desert sun, and she had seen the approaching army.
"Oh damn. Damn!" Suzette cried, and dropped to her knees again, next to the fallen Med-Jai. "What are we going to do?" She whispered to Ardeth, whose face was motionless. Suzette looked down and frowned…blood was seeping into the Med-Jai's robes. Biting her tongue, Suzette felt where he had been shot, and gasped when her hand was suddenly wet with blood. Rick's make shift bandage had broken.
Ardeth was going to bleed to death.
"Oh, Dieu, please!" Suzette hissed fervently. Something…she had no idea what to do! And the others…were they still alive? The sound of the horsemen, the infinite seeming number of soldiers approaching. They could not face them alone, and what if the Germans had already taken control? The horrid possibilities raced through Suzette's mind.
Suddenly, Ardeth sat straight up, his eyes widened, his hand going to his heart.
"What!? What?" Suzette shrieked, caught off guard.
Ardeth turned to Suzette.
"The woman needs to do it! The woman…she is the one that has to destroy it." Ardeth told the confused French girl, his eyes still wide, and all the pain had left his gaze. Suzette frowned slightly, not even aware she was frowning.
"What do you mean…Greta?" Suzette murmured.
"Jonathan…he tried…but he cannot, the woman must. Suzette, I must tell them." Ardeth exclaimed, struggling to his feet. But as he tried to stand, the pain returned to his eyes and he collapsed to his knees in pain.
"No! You cannot…let me go." Suzette volunteered.
"No, I will not let you go alone." Ardeth breathed heavily, struggling to stand again.
"We can stand here, arguing while the others may be getting killed, or you can let me run there and save us all." Suzette challenged hotly, standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing.
Ardeth smiled lightly, raising his eyebrows at her. Suzette blushed a bit.
"Just my French temperament." She smirked.
"Be safe." Ardeth whispered, and Suzette nodded, giving the Med-Jai a final smile. Then, she jumped off the truck and ran towards Jonathan, Rick, and Evelyn, hoping there was still time to help them.
***
The Army came closer. So close that the sweat rolling down the flanks of the Warrior-King's midnight-black stallion could be seen, glistening in the Saharan sun.
A small voice echoed in her head. A German voice…her own: 'What have I done? What have I done…'
And then laughter! Of all things, laughter! Gerhard and Josef's, and Greta opened her eyes. She was still kneeling, and the sky had turned a dark black, the world shadowed but for the turquoise light, still spiraling upwards from the pendant. And all around her, from each direction, the Armies of the Desert came.
Led by an ancient Warrior-King.
Directed by odd impulses almost shooting up from the pendant, Greta closed her eyes again and lowered her hands over the jewel, almost touching it but not quite.
***
"What do we do!?" Suzette shrieked above the odd, frightening roar, Jonathan still grasping her shoulder, in fear himself. Ardeth tried to push himself up but cried out in pain. He whispered something, but the wind tore it away, and the wounded Med-Jai felt as if he was totally devoid of strength.
Rick looked around wildly. This was obviously much bigger, much worse than he had imagined, and, honestly, he had no clue what to do. But Evelyn was holding on to him tightly, and Jonathan and Suzette were staring at him from the truck bed anxiously. Rick knew he would have to come up with something…he was expected to.
"We have to…we have to…" Rick started, fumbling for some sort of assurance.
"The pendant!" Ardeth managed to cry out in a raspy, rough voice. Suzette and Jonathan's eyes widened and they turned from Rick, kneeling down next to the Med-Jai. Suzette blinked slowly and took his hand.
"The pendant…what about it?" She asked softly, barely audible above the wind. Ardeth heard, though.
"You must…destroy it." Ardeth whispered, but Suzette and Jonathan caught it.
"Of course! You always have to destroy the bloody thing…that's always the damned answer." Jonathan nodded excitedly, and stood up.
"We have to destroy the pendant!" He told Rick and Evelyn.
"How?" Evelyn queried. Jonathan looked back down at Ardeth and Suzette, but Suzette only gave him a wide-eyed stare. Ardeth had passed out once more. Jonathan sighed.
"I don't know." He returned.
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting whoop, and unearthly war-cry that seemed to echo from everywhere, all at once.
"We have to do something…NOW!" Rick cried.
"We have to destroy that bloody thing." Jonathan restated.
"I know, I know. Jonathan, come with us! Suzette, you stay with Ardeth…we'll call if we need you!" Rick commanded. Jonathan turned back to Suzette, who was looking up in alarm, her eyes conveying her fear at being left alone with the unconscious Med-Jai.
"It's all right. You'll be fine. We'll take care of them, just make sure he's okay." Jonathan assured the French girl softly, who was now looking much younger than her eighteen years.
"Oui." Suzette nodded, scared. Jonathan gave her a brave smile, then jumped out of the truck and he, Evelyn, and Rick ran off in the direction of the deafening cry.
***
Josef and Gerhard saw them approach, and cried out in irritation. Only a few brief moments, and the ritual would be complete, the Armies of the Desert ready to do the two Germans' bidding, and the three had to come and interrupt them! It was only the American, the Englishman, and that woman…the French girl and the Med-Jai were nowhere to be seen. Of course, the Med-Jai was probably dead, the two Germans realized with identical smirks.
"What the hell is going on here!?" The American…Rick, or something like that…demanded of them angrily, gesturing the cloudy sky and the swirling turquoise light.
The unearthly war-whoop sounded again, and the earth began to shake with the approaching vibrations of countless horses, bearing countless soldiers.
The Armies of the Desert.
"What do you think?" Gerhard smirked calmly, and motioned to Greta, who was still kneeling down by the pendant.
"Damn, its started." Rick remarked.
"What the bloody hell did you think was happening before!?" Jonathan demanded, raising an incredulous eyebrow.
"Shut up." Rick sighed.
"Don't you realize what you're doing!? You could kill us all!" Evelyn shouted at Gerhard and Josef.
"We know exactly what we're doing." Josef spat, and then everything exploded in a fiery mass of white light. Evelyn, Jonathan, Rick, Gerhard, and Josef dove to the ground, covering themselves as best they could, trying to hold out against the blinding light.
Then it cleared.
The wind stopped.
The clouds were gone.
But not the hoof-beats.
Rick was the first up. He turned around slowly, and his mouth flew open as he beheld what was fast approaching them. An immense army, comprised of all echelons of troops, in every type of uniform, on every type of horse. The eclectic, chaotic force seemed to move with a driving cohesion, though.
Jonathan gasped. It was his dream! His dream…and Ardeth's vision, exactly! The troops, and the Leader…the imposing, intimidating Warrior-King on his elegantly powerful black Arabian stallion. Only, in this reality, the stallion was not wearing a bridle.
And Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan understood that the Germans would use the pendant that they had stolen from Suzette to gain control of that immense Army. Whoever had the bridle…or, part of the bridle, at least…was the real leader of the powerful force barreling towards them.
"Now! It is time!" Gerhard exclaimed, giddily and almost threateningly maniacal.
"NO!" Rick cried, and he dashed forward, trying for the pendant, but Josef jumped forward and clashed with the American. They both fell, fighting angrily, roughly, Rick using all his urgency, his fear, to beat the living hell out of the damned German. Meanwhile, Jonathan, sensing the need to distract Gerhard, threw his handgun to his sister, who looked at him with big eyes.
The Warrior-King was fast approaching, and behind him came the enormous Army.
"Distract him!" Jonathan mouthed to his sister, motioning to Gerhard, who was dividing his attention between the coming Army and the fight between Josef and Rick, watching both with a twisted smile of pleasure. Rick and Josef seemed almost evenly matched, tussling ferociously in the sand, both of them bloodied and beaten.
Evelyn stared at the hand gun and then shot it in the direction of the coming Army. Gerhard turned to her in anger, and Evelyn shot again. The enraged German advanced upon her.
"Come on, that's right! Come and get me!" Evelyn challenged, trying to sound like Rick did when he was baiting the bad guy. Of course, with her cultured English accent it did not work as well, but Gerhard was so power-mad and blindly furious that accentual inadequacies did not exactly matter to him.
Evelyn shot the small gun again, still in the direction of the encroaching Army, and Jonathan took his chance as Gerhard rushed over.
Jonathan dashed past Josef and Rick, casting a backwards glance at them. Rick caught Jonathan's eye and winked, wincing a bit in pain, mouthing for Jonathan to go on ahead…he could keep Josef busy. Jonathan nodded and reached the epicenter of the whole situation.
The pendant. And Greta.
The German woman was kneeling, her eyes closed and her hands just above the aquamarine gemstone. She looked removed from the noise and confusion, and Jonathan figured it would be easy to sneak up on her and take the pendant.
But, as was the usual course of events, Jonathan was wrong.
Well…sneaking up on the woman was easy enough, as he had predicted, but taking the pendant was not. As Jonathan reached out for the jewel, something that felt like burning electricity shot through his body. The Englishman cried out and fell back, blinking to clear his vision.
He could not touch the pendant!
***
Suzette had never been so frightened. When the white light had exploded out of nowhere, she had thrown herself on top of the still-unconscious Ardeth in an attempt to protect him from what was coming. Then, when the light had dissipated and the cry had sounded, Suzette had stood, shading her eyes against the desert sun, and she had seen the approaching army.
"Oh damn. Damn!" Suzette cried, and dropped to her knees again, next to the fallen Med-Jai. "What are we going to do?" She whispered to Ardeth, whose face was motionless. Suzette looked down and frowned…blood was seeping into the Med-Jai's robes. Biting her tongue, Suzette felt where he had been shot, and gasped when her hand was suddenly wet with blood. Rick's make shift bandage had broken.
Ardeth was going to bleed to death.
"Oh, Dieu, please!" Suzette hissed fervently. Something…she had no idea what to do! And the others…were they still alive? The sound of the horsemen, the infinite seeming number of soldiers approaching. They could not face them alone, and what if the Germans had already taken control? The horrid possibilities raced through Suzette's mind.
Suddenly, Ardeth sat straight up, his eyes widened, his hand going to his heart.
"What!? What?" Suzette shrieked, caught off guard.
Ardeth turned to Suzette.
"The woman needs to do it! The woman…she is the one that has to destroy it." Ardeth told the confused French girl, his eyes still wide, and all the pain had left his gaze. Suzette frowned slightly, not even aware she was frowning.
"What do you mean…Greta?" Suzette murmured.
"Jonathan…he tried…but he cannot, the woman must. Suzette, I must tell them." Ardeth exclaimed, struggling to his feet. But as he tried to stand, the pain returned to his eyes and he collapsed to his knees in pain.
"No! You cannot…let me go." Suzette volunteered.
"No, I will not let you go alone." Ardeth breathed heavily, struggling to stand again.
"We can stand here, arguing while the others may be getting killed, or you can let me run there and save us all." Suzette challenged hotly, standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing.
Ardeth smiled lightly, raising his eyebrows at her. Suzette blushed a bit.
"Just my French temperament." She smirked.
"Be safe." Ardeth whispered, and Suzette nodded, giving the Med-Jai a final smile. Then, she jumped off the truck and ran towards Jonathan, Rick, and Evelyn, hoping there was still time to help them.
***
The Army came closer. So close that the sweat rolling down the flanks of the Warrior-King's midnight-black stallion could be seen, glistening in the Saharan sun.