The Four Corners of the Earth

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Eight more hours and they were ready. The DC team reset the GPR after contacting the Icelandic archaeological unit who were still investigating what was left of the first tomb of the gods. It always comes back to Odin, Drake thought as he waited. Understandably, the Icelanders had kept much of the details of the find and all the samples. It was a matter of a few moments to send the rare element’s data to DC.

Or so they said, Drake later imagined. He’d be shocked if the Americans didn’t already have it on file.

A test and then a hot signal was sent down. A ping on a site they’d already skirted and the ancient Sword of Mars was a clear pinpoint on a map.

“That’s it,” Mai said. “The tomb of Attila the Hun.”

Excavations began in earnest. The villagers started widening the hole they’d already hollowed out. Before they reached a void that ran in perfect parallel with the sword, they paid off the villagers and pretended despondence as they watched them walk away.

“The other side of this,” Mai said, “is the immense cultural find.”

“We can’t worry about that now,” Hayden said. “This is the weapon of Death. It has to be neutralized before we declare anything.”

Smyth, Yorgi and Kinimaka jumped in, attacking the earth. Dahl still looked and felt a little woozy, though Alicia and Kenzie took the opportunity to call him every name from ‘idle arse’ to the Mad Sloth.

It didn’t take long to break into the void.

Drake watched as the trio widened the gap. Mai and Alicia were out checking the terrain, ensuring there were no surprises about to come creeping through the tall grass. Lauren was going to stay near the hole; a line of sight between the two women and those below.

“Since we don’t know how far down we’re going,” Drake said, “the comms may be useless. But I guess we’ll play it as we find it.”

“All we need is the box,” Hayden affirmed. “We don’t spend time staring at anything, or anyone, else. Agreed?”

They nodded. Yorgi went first, being the most agile of the team. Kinimaka came next, still nursing a head wound, and then Smyth. Drake jumped into the hole, followed by Hayden and Dahl. The Swede was to stay near the entrance. Drake ducked under the jagged earth and found himself inside a dark tunnel. One minute of crawling and squeezing between walls, led to the wider void, where the team turned left. Yorgi had the sword on a handheld GPS and shouted out the distance between them and it every few minutes.

Drake kept his flashlight steady, joining beams with those ahead. The passage never deviated, but skirted around the sword’s resting place until they were slowly headed away from it.

Yorgi stopped ahead. “We may have to break through.”

Drake cursed. “It’s solid rock. We’d need big machinery to break through there. Can you see how thick it is?”

Yorgi made an unhappy noise. “Twice the width of this passage.”

“And the sword?”

“Just on the other side.”

Drake felt the distinct impression that they were being toyed with. The old gods again, having fun. It sometimes felt as if they’d been dogging him this whole way, throwing him into this adventure and that, sometimes returning to make their presence felt.

Like now.

He made the decision. “Push on,” he said. “We need to see where this passage goes.”

“Well, one of the anomalies lies ahead,” Yorgi sent back. “A large unknown shape.”

Alicia’s voice crackled over the comms. “Is it moving?”

Drake knew the wicked tone of humor. “Quit it.”

“How many legs does it have?”

“Alicia!”

Everyone below ground took their handguns out. Drake tried to crane his neck to see ahead but Kinimaka blocked his view. The only thing he succeeded in doing was knocking the top of his head against the tunnel.

Dust sifted through the air. Drake was sweating, his fresh bruises throbbing. The team crawled on as fast as they could. Yorgi led them around a slow bend. It was only then that the young Russian stopped.

“Ah! I have something.”

“What?” Several voices rang out.

“Wait. You can come up here with me.”

Soon, Drake rounded the curve to see the side of the passage widen into an eight-foot-high, four-man-wide archway of rock. It was buff-colored, smooth and presided over a narrower hole that had been cut into the very rock — a small, door-like entrance.

Drake eyed the blackness of that opening. “So maybe they hollowed out the bedrock a little, ensuring Attila would remain here forever?”

“But there’s no river above us,” Yorgi stated. “That has been on my mind.”

“River courses change through the years,” Hayden said. “We can’t tell at the moment if the Tisza once flowed this way. As it is, it’s only a few meters to the south.”

Drake walked toward the darkness. “I’m game. Shall we see?”

Yorgi jumped up, maintaining his position in front. At first, the new door was just a shape of utter blackness, but as they approached and shone their flashlights, they saw hints of a large room on the other side. A room no larger than a good-sized dining room, full of dust motes and utter silence, and with a knee-high pedestal at its center.

Atop the pedestal sat a stone coffin.

“Incredible,” Yorgi breathed.

“You think Attila’s in there?” Kenzie asked.

“The sword is, I think.” Yorgi consulted his GPR. “So says this thing.”

“We stay on mission.” Hayden hadn’t even looked at the coffin. She was busy scanning the floor. “And that right there? That’s it.”

Drake looked to where she pointed. The team had moved through the entrance arch now and were fully inside the room. The familiar wooden box with the Order’s seal on top sat on the pedestal itself, at the foot of the coffin. Hayden strode toward it.

“Make ready,” she told Lauren through the comms. “We’re on our way. Tell DC we found the last box.”

“Did you open it up?”

“Negative. I don’t think that’s a good idea down here. We’ll wait till we’re topside.”

Drake stared at the coffin. Yogi moved closer. Kenzie climbed onto the pedestal and peered over the top.

“Anyone gonna give me a hand?”

“Not now,” Hayden said. “We have to go.”

“Why?” Kenzie remained bolshie. “It’s not like the other teams are here. Makes a nice change to have a minute to ourselves, don’t you think? A nice change not to have someone trying to restrain me.”

Drake keyed the comms. “Dahl? You’re a bastard.”

“Whaa?”

Kenzie inhaled. “It’s just a stone lid.”

Drake saw the relic smuggler in her, the passion for treasure. Of course, it would never quieten. It was a part of her. He nodded at Hayden.

“We’ll catch you up. Promise.”

He ran over to the other side of the pedestal, took hold of the stone and heaved.

Hayden hurried out of the tomb, Yorgi and Kinimaka close behind. Smyth lingered in the doorway. Drake watched as the treasures of Attila the Hun’s tomb were unearthed.

In the glow of the flashlight, his eyes were blinded; glittering green and red, sapphire blue and bright yellow; hues of the rainbow shimmering and free for the first time in almost a thousand years. The riches shifted, a sword unsettled by the movement. Other blades gleamed. Necklaces, anklets and bracelets lay in heaps.

Beneath it all, still wrapped in a few tatters of clothing, lay the body of Attila. Drake believed it so. This site had never been found by grave robbers; hence the presence of the riches. The Nazi’s required it only for their wider schemes, and drawing attention to a monumental find would only draw attention to them. Breathless, he jumped on the comms.

“Lauren,” he whispered. “You gotta get someone to guard all this. You just gotta make it happen. It’s… incredible. The only thing is…” He paused, searching.

“What is it?”

“There are no swords. The Sword of Mars is missing.”

Lauren breathed out. “Oh no, that’s not good.”

Drake’s face became strained. “After all we’ve been through,” he said. “I bloody well know that.”

Kenzie grunted. Drake looked over. “The Sword of Mars is here.”

“Bloody hell, you are good. Relic smuggler and thief extraordinaire. You nicked that from right under my nose.” He stared. “It’s fabulous.”

“You can’t take anything.” He saw her lift out a bejeweled object. “But trust you to go for the most valuable item in there.”

“More than Attila?”

“Yeah, of course. You can take him. But, whatever you do, keep the sword.”

Kenzie laughed and withdrew her hand, leaving the bejeweled treasure behind but keeping the sword. “I’ve seen it all now,” she said with a kind of reverence. “We can go.”

Drake was happy that she’d shown an inner desire, and that he’d helped her fulfill it. “All right, then. Let’s go see what the Horseman of Death is all about.”