For They Shall Inherit The Earth by Graeme Winton - HTML preview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

58

 

Interlude

 

I

“Graam, bring my boy back!” demanded Queen Auria.

“Yes my love,” said a bowing Graam. “He pleaded with me to let him command the attempt to push the Mercians further back.”

“Just bring him back!”

“I will see to it myself.”

Into the fields within Dragonbreath Castle strode a lightly armoured Graam.

“Rose! To me,” he shouted to a large grey mare.

“I have one last favour to ask of you old girl. I know we have been through many battles together and I granted you the rest of your life free to frolic in this field. My grandson, however, is lying in a battlefield–as told by Herdegraad the Seer.

The mare snorted and then splayed her front legs and bowed her head.

“Nay, rise fair lady it is I who should bow before you. I would not be here today if it were not for you–a thousand times!”

Graam then snapped his fingers and two men prepared Rose for travel and battle. He then rode out through the castle gates and over the meadows surrounding the castle. He stopped for a moment on a small hillock and glanced back at Dragonbreath before galloping on.

 

II

The mists swept over the dead as Mercian death squads roamed the field. Any Anglo-Saxon who groaned was shown no mercy.

Alfred raised his head up through the pain and saw a squad of five men heading toward him. As he prepared himself for death, he heard a distant galloping and, raising his head back up, he saw something incredible.

 

III

A lone horseman galloped across the battlefield his long, blond-grey hair flapping in the wind. He rode into the death squad and loped off the head of a Mercian. He then jumped off the horse and battled three of them eventually cutting them down with his sword.

As he retrieved the sword, the fifth man, realising who he was, crept up on the king. In a flash the battle-mare Rose galloped out of the mist and pummelled the Mercian into the mud.

 

IV

Graam stabbed his sword into the mud and rested an arm on Rose’s neck. Then, the two stared at Alfred.

“Granddad! I’ve seen nothing like that!” said Alfred through clenched teeth.”

Graam strode over to where the boy was lying and held out a hand.

“Come on lad–you can die some other day!”

Mounted on Rose, the two men rode off through the mist.

“Thanks Granddad!” shouted Alfred.

“Thank your Granma. She’d kick my arse if I returned without you!”

The two men laughed as they galloped toward the far-off Dragonbreath.

 

End

 

 

 

 

 

59

Part Four

 

The Black Sermon on the Mount

 

Chapter Thirty-Four

 

The beams from giant spotlights pierced the dark, moonless night as a shout of anticipation erupted through the masses gathered around a small mountain in the Mojave Desert.

A figure with arms out stretched and engulfed in flames, descended into the spotlight beam intersection. Thomson then hovered for a moment before the flames extinguished as he dropped his arms and continued his descent followed by one spotlight.

“So glad to see you all my friends,” bellowed Thomson doing a perfect imitation of a southern television evangelist. “Always liked a quiet entrance,” he quipped as he dropped to the ground. He then burst into maniacal laughter.

“Now to business. You all know why you’re here. You are descendants of my bloodline; of the Fallen Angel blood line.” Thomson said and then paused. “And we rule the Earth,” he then growled in an other-worldly voice as his eye colour turned to deep crimson.

Cheers rose from the dark crowd.

“As you will no doubt know we are in the opening stages of the Book of Revelation. They have released the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and even though I don’t mind a bit of controlled war and famine. They’re not exactly on our side, now, are they?”

Large moths fluttered around the spotlight beams.

“This will not go down as written brothers and sisters. The meek will not inherit the Earth!” Thomson shouted amid loud cheering. “Well not this one, anyway!” He added.

The lights went out as the cheering grew louder. A huge, illuminated Thomson flew, belly down, over the crowds with blazing red eyes. “I want you to gather your armies for the coming battles. We will take the Earth!”

He then turned upward and disappeared into the starry sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60

 

Part Five

 

Way-out West

 

Chapter Thirty-Five

 

Jez Boyack leant on a gate in Nevada and gazed across one of his fields. The cloudless sky was a brilliant blue, and the heat was building after a cold morning. He puzzled over a dark figure in the distance which seemed to hover over the Winter Wheat. Strange, he thought, he couldn't remember the last time his hired hands put scarecrows in the fields. They used propane cannons nowadays.

He pulled out his cell-phone and was about to press a quick-call button when the figure seemed to move. He blinked his eyes. The scarecrow was again stationary, but there was another one five metres to the left of the original.

“Whoa!” he shouted as he pushed himself away from the gate.

Suddenly another black figure appeared five metres to the right of the original. Jez dropped his phone and backed off toward his pickup as dark figures popped up all over the field. He opened the driver's door and jumped in, then slamming the door shut he searched for the keys. The realization hit him: the keys must have fallen out of his pocket when he pulled out his phone.

A sharp rap on the driver's window made him glance round. A gaunt face stared at him through the glass. “Are you looking for these?” asked the demon in a rasping voice while dangling the keys by the side of its head.

Jez looked around, the dark figures surrounded the vehicle. “Jesus!” he shouted as the pick-up rocked. After a moment the truck rose and then moved through the flattened gate and across the field. He tried to open his door, but it was unmovable even without the lock. He tried the passenger door, but found the same result.

The farmer pulled out his shotgun from under the passenger's seat and held the butt to the window. He then pulled the gun back, forced the butt through the glass and then tried to climb out of the broken window.

“Oh no you don't,” said a demon voice as the shotgun swivelled around and knocked him out. He slumped back on the seat.

At length, the procession entered a field where alfalfa bails were left to dry. The bails rolled toward the centre of the field and climbed on top of each other forming a huge pyramid. Demons carrying the pickup stopped as the alfalfa ignited. The whole structure soon turned into an inferno. Jez came too as the vehicle flew into the heart of the fire and disappeared. After a few moments there was an explosion, and a figure appeared behind the watching demons.

“Where do I sign-up?” growled the undead Jez Boyack.

 

A deep drone emanating from underground interrupted a desert morning. Suddenly a great sinkhole formed in the Mojave between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

At first, smoke appeared from the dark depths, then came whirring as Apache attack helicopters rose from an underground base exposed by the pit. Like giant flying scorpions they headed toward Los Angeles.

The helicopters launched a viscous attack on the black hordes spreading west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

61

 

Chapter Thirty-Six

 

Matthew and David pulled into Lorton for a break after dealing with Grant Meddings.

Matthew threw a few dollars into an old man’s begging cap as he entered a café.

“Thank you Matthew,” said the man, whose eyes glittered red.

Inside the café, news filled the television in the background with the advance of the Dark Army and what the president would do about it.

Matthew grabbed David, and said: “Hey David, that beggar outside knew my name!”

David walked out of the door and looked up and down the street.

“No-one there,” he said, when he returned.

“One more thing: he had red eyes!”

They took a table by the window and stared at the passing traffic. The coffee house was filled with gossiping housewives and workmen on their morning break.

A figure approached their table. “Can I buy you gentlemen a coffee?”

“Yes. Please sit down Mr Scrimgeour,” said David without looking up.

“The man from the Inner Sanctum.” Matthew said gazing at the man as he sat at their table.

“As you will know, and I admit you predicted, we have a big problem on our hands,” said Scrimgeour after the waitress left with their order.

“You’re the New World Order sort it out!” Matthew said.

Scrimgeour pushed his head in toward the two men, and said: “Listen, as I’ve said before, I’m not one of these Illuminati, I’m an American Christian.”

“Why are you involved with them then?” Matthew asked.

“As head of the CIA there are certain things you’ve got to do.”

“Like controlling the parts of the world that are oil rich,” said Matthew.

“What is it you want from us Mr Scrimgeour?” David asked.

“Well, the problem is the Dark Army, spreading over the country, is of mainly Americans, and this guy Baumann, who seems to control the whole thing, is recruiting more as it moves. A new civil war is at hand–I fear!”

“The Book of Revelation is being played out here–in America,” said David as the waitress approached with three mugs on a tray.

“Yes,” said Scrimgeour.

“You realize that this Baumann is the Antichrist,” said David staring into Scrimgeour’s eyes.

“Yes, he’s been doing some supernatural things.”

“And that’s just the beginning!” David said before sipping from his mug.

“If this plays out as told in the Bible–okay, but if not we could be in trouble.”

“Oh, you of little faith,” said Matthew with a grin.

“So you want us to take out this Baumann?” David asked, looking disapprovingly at Matthew.

“Well, you’re the only person I know that has the powers to do it. I could send in a black ops team, but I would never see them again.”

“Okay, but you understand that I probably must deal with Grondin, that’s Satan, as well. The only advantage being: Baumann doesn’t, as far as I know, know who I am.”

“I’ll inform the president we may put a lid on this,” said Scrimgeour.

“Now wait a minute, this is a war against Satan; we might lose.”

“Come on now Mr de Longford with you tw o and the Lamb on our side I reckon we stand a better than evens chance of winning!”

“Okay, all that rests on whether God will let me on your side and whether Grondin opens, or leaves sealed up, the portal to the Dark Realm.”

“Talking of the Lamb have either of you heard anything of his whereabouts?”

“I would ask you the same thing,” said David.

Scrimgeour sipped his coffee, then replaced the mug on the table. “I'm afraid in the limited time I've had, I've drawn a blank. 62

David grimaced and puffed. “This is the main reason I wanted to talk with you. I have it on good authority that a certain black ops group associated with your agency are holding him. No doubt they will be in league with our friend Thomson.

“I see, I'll have to investigate this.”

“May I suggest a soft approach on this may be better,” said David looking from Scrimgeour to Matthew. “Anything we can do to help; you have but to ask.”

“I agree with you, and thanks for the offer, but I would rather you concentrated on this Baumann.”

“It will be tough, but if I succeed in reducing his power level, the problem will be containing him. He will need to be isolated from a possible demonic power load.”

“You mean tainted souls.”

“Indeed.”

“Okay gentlemen,” said Scrimgeour finishing his coffee and rising, “till we meet again.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

63

 

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 

Tom Baumann raised his binoculars up to his eyes and gazed upon the helicopters attacking the Dark Army in the hills east of Los Angeles.

“Bastards!” He shouted as a hellfire missile fizzed past and demolished half a hill side behind him.

Suddenly he was sitting next to the pilot in the helicopter who had fired the missile.

“These choppers are your enemies. They fucking hate you. Blast the fuckers,” he said.

The pilot glanced at him and then at the other Apaches. He then fired a hellfire missile and destroyed the tail of a helicopter sending it crashing to the ground.

The pilot looked at him as two missiles headed toward them.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m the Antichrist,” Baumann said as the aircraft erupted in flames.

Baumann laughed as he watched the burning wreck of the helicopter crash to the ground from his original position.

“Right, lets head west,” he said heading off the hillside.

 

Ally Efron tensed as they injected the needle into his arm. They strapped him into a bed in front of a chosen audience. The eternity he had spent on death row for murder had now ended and he gazed through a re-enforced window at the name-less faces.

Finally, he closed his eyes with pure hatred for the righteous lot staring at him. Power surged through him, and he opened his eyes again. He was standing behind his audience.

After grabbing his semi-automatic firearm Efron struck the yelling officer sending him flying into a wall. The ten men and women screamed at the sight of the sallow faced murderer with red eyes and panic erupted.

Casually the demon opened fire killing all ten along with the doctor, nurse and priest. “You self-righteous fuckers!” he shouted as he left the room. In the passageway police, running toward the sound of gun fire, were mown down as Efron walked out of the facility. He then walked off into the Californian night led by the dark calling.

 

In United States Penitentiary Alts Maximum Security Facility California Rudi Meyer dreamed of pure energy-dark energy. When an officer pressed the buzzer on his cell door, he opened his eyes and looked down on his bed.

“Hey where's Meyer!” the guard shouted looking through the viewer.

He opened the cell door and entered. Meyer dropped from the ceiling crashing the man to the floor. Then rendering him unconscious with a blow to the head Meyer rose and exhaled with a grin. “Such power,” he said to himself. He ran out into the passageway to be confronted by many officers.

“Right Meyer! Face down on the floor! Now!” commanded a supervising officer.

While Meyer was being handcuffed, and the officer in the cell was being seen to, he said: “They're coming!”

“Oh yeah! Who's coming? Asked one officer.

They raised Meyer up. “They're coming, and you're all going to die!”

“Right, get that bastard back in his cell,” ordered the supervisor.

 

An ominous gloom hung over the distant mountains as the governor, Steven Wells, stared out his office window. He had just received the email from his superiors telling him to evacuate the prison and to head North to Oregan. Head to Oregan, he thought. Where in Oregan? Someone would call him with the destination. They don't know what to do with the prisoners!

64

He had watched the television news reports of the spread of the Dark Army. Fuck the prisoners, he thought. I'm going to make sure my family are moved out of harms way.

The inmates became increasingly agitated as the days passed. Officers patrolled with firearms. Rudi Meyer was under solitary confinement because he empowered other prisoners when in contact with them.

One day, five coaches arrived at the prison accompanied by armed guards and three armoured vehicles. The day was clear, and the sun illuminated the sandy terrain which ran empty in all directions away from Alts.

The officers led the handcuffed inmates out of the various buildings.

“Fuck this!” Rudi Meyer shouted. “We ain't goin' anywhere-look!” He nodded through the iron mesh fence to a black line in the distant east which stretched from one side of the plain to the other.

He pulled his arms apart breaking the handcuffs and grabbed the semi-automatic from one guard and shot him dead. He knocked the gun from a supervisor and held him with the firearm at the man's head.

“Now listen up! Drop your weapons and take the cuffs off my brothers!”

With no option the officers released the inmates, who cheered when they were uncuffed. The officers then backed off into their vehicles and fled. The army guards crammed into the armoured vehicles.

The cheers turned to shouts of fear, however, as a dark wave swept up to and over the outer prison grounds then crashed across the perimeter fences.