The Seal of Solomon Read online

  As he reached the pass, he heard growling and wings flapping from behind him. He turned in time to see the dragon diving at him. It was a small one, only about 20 feet from its snout to the tip of its tail. Its scales were a dull crimson with hints of smoky black swirled throughout. The creature’s wings stretched longer than the body by half again. Wisps of smoke seeped from its nose as the bright yellow reptilian eyes flared then it reared its head back and let forth a jet of bright green flame at the aging wizard. With nary a second to spare, Merlin raised his staff and yelled in an obscure dialect of Greek and the fire deflected off an invisible barrier.

  He dismounted the horse and told it to go back down the mountain and wait for him. The dragon circled and came for another pass, once again the flame dissipated harmlessly. Frustrated and confused, the dragon roared into the air releasing a jet of the green flame at nothing. The great beast swooped at Merlin and tried to grab him with its massive talons but grasped nothing but air. The wizard was fast despite his age and easily sidestepped the attempt.

  It circled once again and landed. The magnificent creature was obviously agitated. No prey had ever resisted its fire, and this angered it. The huge beast approached him, its maw dripping with saliva. It snapped at him and once again he moved faster than it could match.

  He raised his staff and spoke in Greek. Large chunks of rock broke free from the nearby boulders and flew at the dragon. The creature was impacted by several large rocks but seemed unfazed.

  It reared onto two legs and started to flap its wings forward, driving gale force winds in front of it. The winds caught Merlin and flung him through the air, smashing him hard into the rock face of the nearby mountain. The mage landed on his hands and knees and started to stand as the dragon was on him again. It slashed at him with a claw and while the barrier held against the slashing, the impact launched him across the pass and into the other side of the rocks, again smashing him hard into the stone face. He landed with a thud, the impact knocking the breath from him.

  The one thing going in Merlin’s favor was the pass was wide by human measurements but cramped to a creature the size of a dragon, so its maneuverability was hampered. Merlin was no fool and chose his battleground wisely. The dragon turned to face him as Merlin stood up. His robes were covered in dirt and blood trickled from his nose and lip. He had a slight limp as he walked.

  The dragon lunged at him again and Merlin moved like lightning to the side as he made a motion with his staff and hands. The dragon was propelled into the rock with incredible force and stunned. Merlin again made a motion with the staff and spoke in Latin. A huge section of the cliff broke off and fell upon the dragon, crushing its skull. The beast lay still, blood the color of its scales seeping out onto the ground.

  A few minutes later, a group of men from the village showed up with a wagon. “Your command, Master?” said one of them.

  “Deliver the remains to my tower, dismember it as needed to move it but keep it as intact as possible,” Merlin said. “I have need of the beast’s remains, especially the scales,” Merlin told them.

  “Yes Lord,” the man replied. “We were advised to tell you the village has prepared a tribute for you as required if it pleases you to stop by on your return,” the man said.

  Merlin whistled, and his steed returned. He rode to the village where a feast was waiting for him and a hut prepared with one of the village’s young women waiting for him. “We hope it meets with your approval Master Merlin,” said the village elder. Merlin merely smiled and led the young woman to the hut.

  #

  “This is disgusting,” said a middle-aged woman to the elder. “We should not have to offer our daughters in tribute. He is as bad as the dragon,” she said.

  “The dragon took the lives of five of our people this week alone. The chastity of a maiden is a small price to pay to keep our village safe,” he told her. “Would you rather have it been another five next week and the week after? What about as the dragon grew and its appetite increased? In a few months, we would all be dead. No, the price is steep but not having his help is a steeper price to pay,” he said.

  “You only say that because she isn’t your daughter. Your child isn’t the one being forced to bed that perverted magister. This doesn’t affect you,” she told him.

  “Do you really think so? I lost my son to that monstrosity and your daughter was to be his wife. Don’t tell me this doesn’t affect me. I lost my only child. MY SON! That hurt will never heal and if giving your daughter’s virginity to that lecherous old bastard can stop another parent from suffering that same hurt then so be it. You were among the voices who spoke for me to be our leader and now that you don’t like a decision you balk. Think about more than yourself woman. I don’t care if your daughter is forced to do the most depraved things imaginable if it means our people live,” he told her angrily.

  She glared at him and stormed off without a reply.

  #

  Upon his return to Camelot, he met with Alexander in the courtyard.

  “I take it you were successful,” Alexander said.

  “I was. The remains of the beast will be delivered here soon, and we’ll have more of that metal in the scales to work with as well as other reagents,” Merlin replied.

  “More important, how was your tribute?” asked Alexander.

  “Passable for a commoner. No doubt the day with me will be the highlight of her life. What more could a common human want than to grace the presence of a Master?” Merlin replied to him.

  “Indeed,” replied Alexander.

  #

  Lady Chelsea looked at the man across from her. Training under her was far from easy. The first few weeks were spent learning things the Academy didn’t teach. She quickly earned his respect. Despite her smaller frame, she was fast, strong and very good. He suffered more than a few trips to the infirmary with various injuries from cuts to fractures. After gauging his skill level, she didn’t hold back. She also noticed he didn't hold back. The book tactics that she noticed, in the beginning, were gone, replaced by the honed instincts of a fighter. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew he had been trained before, just when and how she couldn't be certain. His files were vague for a recruit and a few things listed as redacted or classified, which she found odd. His obvious skills let her up the ante and fast-track his combat training. He would sink or swim at the level of a Warden and her main concern was making sure he did so. They had been training closely together for several months and she had taken him on several easy hunts but the low activity of fey had made challenging hunts rare lately.

  Unusual reports of possible fey activity in British Columbia had gotten her attention. Several people have been killed in two incidents and all eyewitness reports indicated a large, fur-covered humanoid with antlers. The description fits a wendigo, but they were almost unheard of this far west. They didn’t usually get along with the local fey, so they stayed on opposite sides of the Rockies. The normally peaceful local sasquatch did not respond well to violent predators in their forests. Passive and quick to hide, the sasquatch were highly intelligent and didn't like predatory fey in their wilderness making it very strange indeed.

  She argued with Facilitator William to give her the assignment. It was unusual for a fey to range over a thousand miles outside of its normal hunting grounds and he wanted a team of seasoned agents. Not only was it out of the ordinary but wendigoes were rare and dangerous and he didn’t want a rookie dying on him. In the end, her persistence and stubbornness convinced him to give the recruit the chance to cut his teeth on a real hunt. He got the Coordinator’s approval and gave Lady Chelsea the green light.

  Lady Chelsea and Sir Sebastian were in a transport shuttle over Vancouver Island a few miles southwest of Cowichan Lake. They were near their jump site. Lady Chelsea had ordered the pilot to go slow and high to keep them from spooking their prey. She didn’t want the sound of a shuttle roaring over the treetops or a sonic boom to spook the wendigo.

 
; Sebastian approached things like this very stoically. These things were never a given and approximately one in five Wardens die in the line of duty. Tonight, might be his night but he would not give in to fear of what may happen and focused only on what must happen.

  Chelsea though, she was excited. They had been on a few minor hunts together and she never ceased to amaze him in her approach. She knew the risks as much as he but fed on them. He watched her. Her breathing and body language were the same as someone about to go on a rollercoaster for the first time. She enjoyed this.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this? You can still opt out. We have plenty of openings in the archives. I bet if you worked hard, you would make middle management in the records bureau in just a few years,” she said teasing him.

  “I’m ready,” he said as he was doing a final weapon and gear check.

  She smiled at the handsome young man across from her. He was absorbed in his preparations. He went through his gear and weapons with a military-like precision, checking and double checking everything. She had a small device in her hand and she raised it slowly, silently, pointing it at him without him noticing. She pressed a small button on it and two barbs fired at him. He moved to the side slightly and the barbs bounced harmlessly off the shuttle wall.

  “I told you, I’m ready,” he said.

  She smiled at him. “It’s about damn time. I’ve been trying to beat that idea into your head for months now. It took you long enough to embrace it.”

  “I gave you my word and I’ll always keep my promises to you,” he told her. “Now, are you ready?”

  “For what?” she asked.

  He tapped the control panel on the shuttle wall next to him and the floor began to slide open.

  She grinned and activated the wing membranes on her suit. “I was born ready,” she replied and then jumped without hesitation. He could hear her shouting in adulation over his comm.

  He followed her out and started plummeting through the darkness. The heads-up display on his goggles outlined the target zone and the two of them were going head first towards the ground at very high speed, using the membrane on their suit to steer towards the target and adjust for wind drift.

  Their target was a small clearing on the west shore of the lake. Chelsea approached first and turned her angle to use the membranes as an air brake and pointed the turbines on her boots towards the ground. Her fall slowed rapidly, and she hit the ground running. Sebastian did the same.

  “Not bad for your first hot drop,” she said.

  “Not my first time,” he replied.

  “Really? Your files don’t mention any PEMES training, other than certification, prior to the Warden Academy,” she said.

  “I don’t like to talk about it,” he replied.

  “I’ll pry the story from you eventually. We have a wendigo to find,” she said. “Let’s start with the last attack site. It should be about half a mile north along the shore. Weapons hot. Wendigoes are fast and quiet. Let’s be ready.”

  They moved very quietly which slowed their movement somewhat, but they still made quick

  They arrived at the campsite, or at least what was left of it. A family of five had been on a fishing trip when it struck. It was the second attack inside a week but the first was nearly a hundred miles away and first indications pointed to a wolf pack but after the second attack, there was no doubt it was a fey.

  One of the children had survived the second attack. She had gone to their shuttle to get something and heard the attack when she exited. She ran back in the shuttle and locked down the doors. She activated the shuttle's security and hid inside the shuttle's storage bay. The shuttle was covered in claw marks where it tried to get inside but it could not claw its way past the steel exterior.

  She was too shaken up to be of any real use as a witness but kept crying and saying it was a wolfman with antlers. The best evidence was a partial image from the shuttle's security camera showing a blurry image that appeared to be a wendigo.

  At the request of the Wardens, the local police had set up an electronic perimeter but left the site untouched after doing their initial investigation and removing the remains of the bodies. The two Wardens spent a few minutes going over the site looking for anything relevant but found nothing the original police report failed to mention. It was a gruesome aftermath with blood splattered everywhere. The unarmed family members were easy prey.

  “Wendigoes don’t like daylight and the local relief maps show some caves a few miles from here. Maybe we should start there,” suggested Sebastian as he scanned a map on his heads-up display.

  “Exactly my plan,” she told him. She had her blade in one hand and her pistol in the other as they walked into the heavy woods. It was a full moon, but they couldn’t tell. The heavy forest blocked much of the moonlight. They used their night goggles to give them better sight.

  They trekked about half an hour through the mountains until they arrived at the general area of the cave system.

  “Why would a wendigo move this far west then move again after finding a successful hunting ground? It makes no sense,” said Sebastian.

  “This is sasquatch country and if that first hunting ground was home to a family of them, the wendigo would have been forced out. Bigfoot are peaceful for the most part, but they are very territorial and don't respond well to aggressive predators, especially ones that might threaten their young. That or maybe a wolf pack. A wendigo is nasty, but a large pack would give one reason to flee,” she said.

  “That might explain why it would move to a new hunting ground once it got here but why this far west though?” asked Sebastian. “They’re rare, to begin with, and never seen anywhere close to the Rockies, much less the west coast. We're twenty-five hundred miles from its usual region. It’s an anomaly.”

  “That it is but sometimes anomalies are just anomalies. Things are strange right now with the fey,” she replied. “The caves must be close.”

  “It’s watching us,” said Sebastian.

  “How do you know?” Chelsea replied.

  “I can’t explain it,” he said as he turned a slow three-sixty. “I clicked through every spectrum and it’s well hidden but its close.”

  “Well unless you have magic powers you’re just guessing. It’s a reasonable guess. If it’s using these caves to avoid daylight then it will be close to its den if not hunting and dawn is going to be here soon,” she replied. “Maybe your ‘can’t explain it’ is just logic.”

  “You're probably right. There’s the cave entrance,” he told her.

  The cave entrance was about ten feet wide and only a few feet high but opened inside to several dozen feet wide and about fifteen feet tall. It was rectangular on the inside and went back at least a hundred feet where it narrowed and turned sharply to the left. The inside was lined with cave paintings from the natives who once reigned over this part of Canada.

  The corridor was littered with bones and remains. The bones were mostly stripped clean except for a partially eaten deer. Many of the bones were human. The stench was overwhelming.

  “Looks like we found its lair and the missing remains of the campers,” said Sebastian. “That section at the end looks jagged and irregular, not smooth like the rest of the stone. We should check it out.”

  “Agreed but we need to keep eyes on that entrance. Dawn is almost here and when it comes back, we’re going to have to put it down,” Chelsea replied.

  “I’ll keep eyes on the entrance if you want to check out the back,” he said.

  “You just want to watch me walk away,” she said as she walked away from him with an exaggerated wiggle.

  He had to admit to himself she was right about that. Her teasing was incessant, and it perplexed him at times but he always shrugged it off. He watched her walk away then turned his attention to the entrance.

  “Sebastian, you have to see this!” she said. “It has babies!”

  He went over to the alcove, keeping an eye on the entrance. “Are yo
u kidding me? This isn’t a lair, it’s a nest!” he exclaimed. “It’s a shame they have to be killed. Maybe we could take them and raise them with humans and they wouldn’t be a threat, you know, the old nature vs nurture debate,” said Sebastian.

  “Aww, are you saying you want to raise a baby with me? I don’t know if we’re ready for that commitment. You’re not even out of training,” she said smiling.

  “That’s not what I meant. I meant the Wardens. We could try a pilot program to try to domesticate them,” he told her.

  “So, you don’t want to have a baby with me? You don’t like me?” she asked trying hard to keep a straight face.

  “You know what I mean and you’re just trying to excite…I mean incite…me,” he said.

  “That was what the professionals call a Freudian slip,” she said laughing at him.

  “Let’s just do who we need to do…I mean what we need to do…damn it. Let’s just finish this and get back to NY,” he said as his cheeks reddened.

  “Someone is all pent up.” She was laughing out loud at him. “I’ll lay off for now. We need to take care of the mamma,” she said as she finished off the young wendigoes. “Those four won’t be feeding on campers.”

  “Now we wait,” said Sebastian.

  “Now we wait,” replied Chelsea.

  They sat against the far wall waiting on the creature to return. A few minutes before dawn, the wendigo came through the entrance carrying the carcass of a small bear. The bear was badly mauled but still recognizable. It noticed Sebastian and Chelsea, dropped the carcass and howled as it ran at them. Both Wardens were on their feet in an instant, laser shots firing from their pistol at the wendigo. The shots wouldn’t kill it but would cause severe burns on its tough hide. It howled in pain but still managed to reach them quickly.

  Its claws were long and sharp, and it was quick for a creature of its size. It towered at least two feet over the six-foot-tall Sebastian. It had brown fur and features that looked like a mix of wolf and human except for its face which showed traits of a lagomorph. On top of its head was a rack of antlers that would make any trophy hunter salivate. Its structure was humanoid with legs and arms disproportionately long compared to its torso. Its feet and arms ended in long, tough claws like those on large wolves. It walked on its rear legs which had elongated ankles giving its legs the appearance of a canine’s hind legs. Its arms were like a human's though its fingers were extra-long compared to its hands and had two more joints than human fingers. Its face and body were splattered with blood from the bear. “The wizard that made your species must have been drunk,” said Chelsea.