Fire Wind

  She’d drawn back from my touch, but not quickly enough. Wisely I stepped back, as I watched her torment begin. The dying indian in the desert had been right.

  The blood on her cheek was a red stain of crimson against the white of her skin, but her skin was changing. The struggle in her eyes was disgusting to behold as with increasing euphoria she tried to gaze at the blood on her face out of eyes that were suddenly very much not human.

  A forked tongue sprang out to swab at the blood on her now scaly cheek and with gasps of horror everyone in the place drew back in fright. Everyone that is except for me and the two men that I’d asked to come along. Both stood behind me with hands on my back as they fell into deep prayer.

  With the blood gone the creature of green scales, cat eyes, and a forked tongue slid out of the booth. The size of the creature increased and the red dress fell off from her in shreds.

  The look in its eyes was insane hatred that was centuries in the making for the likes of me and my kind. Feeling the directed anger of the skin walker at me I responded out of the anger that I felt, “I’ve seen much. Enough to know that your kind and the kind that killed that poor boy and his people are at enmity with each other. At least most of the time. Then there are those times that you unite around a common cause. A sincere man of faith along with a faithful following of believers in the one true God constitutes such a threat, because their access to power is far greater than your own. You run the town, but the Pastor was too much for you so you brought in outside help. The white hairs performed the sacrifice, but you were the one who ate the boy’s heart and drank his blood. Unfortunately for you your enemy of old brought in outside help too. I’m not letting you leave this place alive!”

  “You pathetic man! I will feast on your impudence!” The reptilian creature roared out at me.

  I drew my gun, but its long tail whipped out and wrapped around my wrist and tugged me forward toward the recently elongated jaw full of teeth. Hiking my knee up I pulled the boot knife free and jammed it through the thick scales of the tail gripping my arm and the reptilian screamed.

  The hold of the tail released and whipped away with my knife still embedded. As the reptilian grasped at the knife still lodged in its tail I spun close and punched straight into her throat.

  Her reptilian eyes pulsed with fear and I ripped the small bladed knife in my fist to the side and severed her throat wide open. The creature fell forward gagging, as I stepped to the side.

  Stooping down I picked up my gun from where it had fallen and coolly emptied all six shots into the back of the reptilian’s head and the body that had already begun to regenerate new tissue to repair what I had severed. The six shots were too much though and it slumped out to lay immobile upon the floor.

  Leaning back against the corner of a table I thumbed new shells into my gun idly as the room watched on in paralyzed shock. My voice carried well throughout the room as I said, “I know how strange this must all seem to you. Truly I do, but the fact remains that now faced with the reality of what you now know what are you going to do? As I see it you have three options. You can leave this town as fast as possible and take up a life elsewhere and pretend this never happened, but you would only be deluding yourself though because the darkness you see before you exists everywhere and one can never run from the darkness of one’s own soul. The second option would be to stay here and pretend that nothing is different. That false utopia will soon be impossible to play along with, because all hell is about to break loose. That ladies and gentlemen leaves us with option three. Option three sees you all heading over to the church to plead for the redemption of your immortal souls. Whether you leave or stay in town after that I don’t care. Take my words to heart friends and get right with your Maker or………” I kicked the green pile of scales before me and continued, “or you could be spending eternity with the likes of these monsters.”

  People flocked for the double doors like a parched herd of cattle stampeding for water.

  Angus and Pastor Lonigan both wore huge grins, as they turned to shepherd the bunch on over to the church, which had likely never been filled to such capacity before. Before I knew it I was alone within the bar that had been the setting for many a man’s fall from grace.

  Going to the bar I picked up a bottle of whiskey. I stared at it for a moment in contemplation.

  Never again! Turning I smashed it into the bar. The amber liquid spilled out everywhere and I walked for the double doors as I left the stains of the past behind.

  I had a strong temptation to set fire to the place, but it would accomplish nothing other than to likely catch the whole town on fire. The choice to not frequent such places and the delights they offered came from within rather from the physical absence of such places.

  Where there’s a will there’s often a way of accomplishing it. The same is true whether people are rebelling or doing that which is right.

  I walked out the double doors and saw that most everybody was at the church. It had to be standing room only in there. Behold the power of prayer. Nodding I walked down the boardwalk my boot heels echoing with the noise of my passage.

  The war wasn’t over by far, but a victory had been attained. Now that victory would need to be pushed beyond the borders of the town.

  How to achieve that I wasn’t sure, but I prayed that it would even be so. In pride I walked down the street of my town.

  Chapter Eight

  Legacy Explained

  It was dark and yet I felt an urging to awaken. Looking up I saw the crate that the lantern was sitting on begin to shake slightly.

  I came to full awareness then and I bailed off the cot and out of the cell, only taking the time to grab up my boots and my gun belt. I didn’t bother with the jailhouse door and it’s multitude of locks. Instead I exploded through the glass panes of the window to land on the boardwalk outside.

  I rolled on toward the street and fell into the dust as the jailhouse exploded into a fireball behind me. Heat scorched over top of me and I covered my ears with my hands as the flames burned unabated.

  I crawled forward and then someone was helping me up. It was Edgar and I took his hand and got up.

  I made it across the street and sat down to put my boots on. Looking up it was to see that the jail was gone. A virtual crater was in its place.

  Thankfully no other buildings had caught on fire and the burning boardwalk was even now being brought under control by others who’d been roused by the explosion in the night. Edgar handed me my gun belt and I strapped it on as I stood up.

  I had blood on my face and arms from where they’d gotten cut up by the glass. In a bit of a dazed shock I looked at the evidence of what would’ve been my demise if I hadn’t heeded the sudden urging to come to alertness.

  Glancing off to the side at the crowd that had gathered in the early morning gloom I noticed the old indian watching me. I nodded and he smiled before disappearing.

  He’d saved my life again. I looked around and in sudden horror I saw that the fire before me wasn’t the only one in town!

  “Oh no!” I exclaimed and took off running towards the Pastor’s house at the edge of town.

  Reaching the burning blaze I saw that it was a mirror image of the jail in terms of the crater in the ground with just bits of splintered pieces of wood smoldering about on the ground. There were no words to be said by the silent throng of people ringing the debris of all that remained of a good man.

  Angered at the attack in the night I turned away only to see a man approaching from the church out of the gloom of early morning.

  “Pastor Lonigan!” I exclaimed rushing forward.

  He gripped a hold of me firmly, “I’m glad you’re okay Taran! I had the urge to pray and I thought they might try to do another sacrifice in front of the church so I went to pray at the church late last night.”

  “Thank God!” I breathed out, as I turned to glance at the crater and what little remained of the Pastor’s house.

  “Inde
ed.” The Pastor commented dryly.

  Gripping my arm then he pulled me away from the others and said, “I saw it all Taran. A spinning orb of light came out of the desert and hovered over the town. It pulsed what looked like a solid beam of lightning into the jail and then it swiveled to take out my house. I was praying in the church’s steeple up by the bell and I had a good view. It spun away and headed off in that direction.” He said pointing to the south. Before continuing with, “You can’t see it from here, because of that rise of the land, but up in the steeple I saw the craft fly up a canyon and I’m positive that it is still there. The canyon I speak of can’t be much more than a mile from here.”

  I patted him on the shoulder, “You did good! I’m going to go investigate, but you should try to get some rest.” I said before hurrying off to the stable yard.

  *****

  I had my horse about half saddled, when another rider pulled up beside me. It was Edgar. I gave him a curious look and he said, “I heard you and the Pastor. I would like to come along and see for myself.”

  “You know we might not come back, right?”

  Edgar nodded.

  I shrugged and said no more. Mounting up we took out of the town as the sun began to make its way over the horizon. The beauty of the sunrise was lost on me though as my mind was full of the complications of how to combat such an advanced foe.

  I felt reasonably confident of not being discovered as the creatures seemed to prefer the darkness of night to move out and about in rather than broad daylight.

  Reaching the canyon I pulled up and Edgar followed suit. Daylight or not I didn’t feel comfortable riding up the narrow canyon.

  “Let’s circle around and find a way up this mesa so we can ride along the rim of the canyon.”

  Edgar nodded and we backtracked. He led off to the right and I followed him figuring that he knew a way to get up onto the mesa that the canyon cut down through.

  *****

  Easing forward on our bellies we inched closer and closer to the edge of the canyon rim. The deep hum we’d been hearing for several moments only intensified the closer we got to the edge.

  Reaching the edge, both of us now hatless, we peered over. Daylight revealed the metallic surfaces of the object that had been somehow cloaked from view that night at the enclosure.

  I thought it had spun and perhaps it had, but right now it remained motionless as it hovered just above the ground. The question of how to defeat it was on both our minds.

  We both drew back from the edge keeping our heads down. Edgar put it best, “It’s like a buzzard floating on the breeze.”

  I nodded thinking. The concepts at play with the technology below us was far beyond me. Staring at the blue sky overhead I prayed for help.

  A shadow crossed over me and in alarm I blinked and made to run for it, but I relaxed at the sight of a buzzard coasting by. True to Edgar’s words it did seem to just hang in the air. What if the ship below operated on the same principle, at least partly?

  “What makes air thinner? You know, less buoyant.” I asked thoughtfully.

  “Gas.” Edgar replied.

  I glanced at him. I knew he was an educated man and his answer piqued my curiosity, “Gas?”

  He nodded and then hesitatingly he said, “At least I think so.”

  “Explain.”

  “Well back East I saw this experiment done. I was thinking of becoming an engineer before I chose to be a doctor and I took some extra classes. Ships aren’t just built willy-nilly. There are mathematical formulas that go into the making of them or they wouldn’t float or move about right. They might even break apart or…….”

  “Alright alright I get it! Get to the point!” I said in a harsh whisper brought on by the dire grimness of the situation.

  Edgar sighed and said gesturing upward, “Imagine the sky above was all water with that cloud up there being a ship floating on the surface. Well I saw this professor release a burst of methane gas from a cylinder located underneath the water.”

  “Methane gas?” I asked blankly.

  “Yeah the stuff that gets let off in swamps and from the rear of cows.”

  “Got it.”

  “Well anyway this bubble of gas rose through the water because it’s lighter than water. When it reached the ship the ship sunk beneath the water all the way down to the bottom of the container. The gas made the water less buoyant. Maybe that could work with adding gas to just regular air. It’s a theory anyway.”

  “A shaky one, but who knows. Where do we get this methane gas?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. I mean we don’t exactly have the time to follow a herd of cows around.”

  Not being able to help it I chuckled. The gravity of the situation had me sober again rather quickly though.

  “What’s that cave down there that there parked outside of? It looks like its seen active work before.”

  “Oh that’s the old gold mine outlet that got the town it’s start. It’s all played out now though. It’s been vacant going on ten years now. The towns really suffered without the mine. It would’ve gone belly up if it weren’t for the outlying ranches and……”

  “Mining?” I said cutting in.

  He nodded.

  “Are there any mining supplies still laying about the town?”

  “Yeah there’s a whole warehouse of them. Whoa wait a minute, if you think you’re going to take that thing out with dynamite, I think you better think again!”

  I waved his protests away, “No, no, I agree with you. That ship is way beyond dynamite, but what if we try the gas thing and see if the ship will sink and then we use the dynamite to cover it up? In essence the rock we cover it up with will replace the air it needs to float. What do you think?”

  “I think that’s insane, but I’m down for trying it. There’s only one problem though. We don’t have any gas.”

  “Ahh my friend I bet we do. We need to get back to town and check out that warehouse.”

  We scooted back from the edge until we reached where we’d left our horses and then we lit a shuck out of there.

  *****

  Coughing lightly I held my hand to my face to help filter out some of the stirred up dirt from having to break down the door. There had been no choice but to break the door down as the hinges had been rusted shut.

  Walking into the warehouse I could only make mental comment to the honesty of this town’s residents. The warehouse was piled high with supplies from the now defunct mine and yet the supplies had laid dormant in this warehouse untouched and unclaimed for going on ten years.

  Oh there was plenty of dynamite for sure. Going to a case I cautiously peeled the lid off and looked inside. Amazingly the dynamite had not yet begun to sweat nitroglycerin.

  It was good to know that the dynamite was at least still partly stable. It would be no good though if the most vital element needed for the plan wasn’t in supply.

  I saw some headlamps and I hurried over to them. Angus being shorter had to run to keep up with the lantern he held high to illuminate the warehouse.

  “What is it?” He asked excitedly.

  I skipped by the lamps and began pulling the lid off of a box, which was one of several stacked up in the corner of the warehouse. Angus arrived with the lamp as the lid came free.

  “Whoa! Not today buddy!” I said, as my hands flashed out to grasp the snake that was striking out at the paralyzed form of Angus holding the lantern nearby.

  I threw the snake to the floor and stomped its head into the ground. It was one of the same brightly banded snakes that had bit me.

  I looked up from the dead snake to Angus. Looking a little pale he said, “You just saved my life!”

  I patted him on the shoulder, “Don’t thank me yet. I may get us all killed come nightfall.”

  Angus shrugged and offered a wan smile, “I haven’t had this much fun in years. What is this stuff?”

  I picked up one of the chunks in the box, “Calcium carbide. I grew
up in the mountains in the East. Coal miners used this stuff in their headlamps. You combine this with water and it produces acetylene gas, which is highly flammable but controlled enough to be used in a headlamp.”

  “Well I’ll be!” Edgar breathed out, as he reached into the box and pulled out a chunk.

  “This could work! Do you remember that pool of water near the mouth of the canyon? If we could dump all this in the water, but then how do we get the ship to pause in flight in order to be affected by the gas cloud? I don’t know for sure, but I would be willing to bet that this won’t work if the ship is under power and moving. It needs to be hovering.”

  Nodding I said, “I have an idea.”

  Glancing at the large group of people who had filed into the warehouse I said, “All right we have a lot of work to get done before nightfall. I’m not going to lie to you, the plan I have in mind could get a lot of us, if not all of us dead. On the other hand I think what I have in mind could work. I need your help, but it’s your choice to come.”

  Nathan shrugged and glancing around asked, “What do you need done?”

  Smiling I said, “Get all the wagons in the town teamed up. Load the calcium carbide and the dynamite along with the drill steel over there leaning up against the wall. Make sure two wagons are sent to the saloon. I need several men to help me at the saloon. Be careful with the dynamite.” I said, as I hurried out of the warehouse.

  Edgar caught up with me, “What on Earth is of help to us at the saloon?”

  “You’ll see. Hey when there’s a moment I need to talk with you about something.”

  “Sure, but what do you need at the saloon?”

  “Mirrors my good man. Big long bar length mirrors.”

  “What would we need those for?” Edgar exclaimed.

  Slapping him on the shoulder I pushed on into the vacant saloon and said, “Why a mirror reflection. We’re not alone in our fight against this advanced enemy. Angels of God have much the same way of moving about as our foe does.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Nevermind.”

  “These angels are going to help us?”

  “Doubt it, but the enemy doesn’t know that.” I said good humoredly.

  “I don’t understand!”

  “You will. Now help me get these mirrors down. Time is wasting.”