Issue 12: "The Stolen Myth Affair, Part Three"

Not yet Harbin, Manchuko,
the year 1897
Steffan Dee was a tall man with a slight stoop from years of railroad work, but despite this, he lacked for nothing in strength, and people could see that at a glance. His thick black hair was unbound and fluttered in the stiff, cold air as he hunched into his great coat, walking out of his camp alone to greet the new arrivals. His family history left him with a sharp awareness of exactly when, and when not, to bring along partners and companions for important meetings.

The newcomers stepped out of their conveyances and walked in rigid formation to meet with the Russian rail engineer. The head of the delegation walked up front, followed to the left and behind him a step by his daughter, while his advisors followed a couple of steps behind the pair. The party stopped several feet from Steffan and gave polite bows, and he returned them in proper style.

< “Greetings,”> Li Cho said as he began the meeting.

< “Greetings, Mr. Li. It’s an honor to meet you at last,”> Steffan replied. < “I hope fortune smiles on your house.”>

< “Thank you, Mr. Dee. Shall we get to business? I would see these plans and return to more comfortable environs as quickly as possible.”>

< “Of course, please come this way,”> Steffan answered, leading the party toward his camp and into the large pavilion that had been his home for a month now. He called for warm drinks and then pulled a chair out politely for the young lady who’d been following Li Cho.

< “This is my daughter, Kue-Ching,”> Cho explained as he watched her sit down and take a cup of tea gratefully. < “She insisted on traveling with me on this expedition. She has a burning passion for ‘seeing the wilderness’, you see.”>

< “Do you now? How delightful. Perhaps, if your father permits, I might show you some of the places I have seen in this region? There are forests and gorges not to be missed,”> Steffan offered with a warm smile which made the young lady blush and turn her head demurely.

< “Business first. Then we can discuss visits with my daughter,”> Cho interrupted sharply. < “Show me the plans for the railroad through this land, and the township you are proposing to manage the construction.”>

< “Of course,”> Steffan replied as he pulled out several rolls of paper and prepared the presentation. He couldn’t help but glance at the lovely young woman at the table from time to time though. She seemed so delicate, and yet, as the afternoon passed and she started to meet the increasingly emotional glances Steffan sent her way, he realized there was a fire inside of her. Cho noticed also, and seemed to grow more irritable, but couldn’t deny the plans being proposed, much to his chagrin.

Runes, cards, entrails, they all tell you things, but you never believe them until they happen, Steffan mused silently as he grew more excited by the prospects of the construction and the presence of Kue-Ching.

For her part, Kue-Ching maintained an inscrutable look as those wide, dark eyes continued to meet Steffan’s gaze, no smile beyond the corner of her mouth politely turning upward, no other move beyond drinking her tea and listening to her father haggle with the Russian. No word slipped her ruby red lips. Her thoughts about the situation remained a mystery to him.

And Steffan Dee was like all of his family...he loved a mystery.



“Where are we going?” Rowan asked her companion as she followed the squat man with brown hair and mean eyes through the night-shrouded forest. “You said you were finally going to explain to me what happened to Amara?”

“I am, dear Rowan, I am,” Maximillian assured the young woman next to him as he led her along the thin path. Up ahead, small points of light appeared, heralding a small cottage long forgotten and tucked away within the Forest of Dean. “Here you will learn about Amara’s fate, and get the power to avenge her.”

“Avenge her?” Rowan echoed as Maximillian opened the door for her. She stepped into the building, lamps giving a soft glow. Inside was a woman, regal and beautiful, topped in fiery hair and dressed in a handsome gown of crimson velvet.

“Yes, Rowan. Amara was a treasured friend and ally,” the woman explained as she stepped up close. She slid slender, smooth fingers along the underside of Rowan’s chin and smiled sweetly at her. “It was she who found and brought Maximillian to my side three years ago.”

“What’s all this about?” Rowan asked again, trying to muster her courage against this charismatic woman with pale skin and piercing eyes. “What do you mean about Amara? Where is my sister? What happened to her?”

“I am Mary Seward,” the woman said in an even voice, a nail lightly dancing over Rowan’s perfect cheek. “Your sister had what I believed to be a singular gift...until Maximillian informed me that she had a sister. You share this gift, for beguiling and entrancing others. You both played with it, little games in youth to amuse yourselves. But for all your rivalry, you loved your sister greatly, did you not?”

“If you know so much about me, if you’re so close to Amara, then you already know the answer to that,” Rowan spat back, at last jerking her face from Mary’s roaming touch.

“When Amara chose to work with me, her gift grew great and powerful. In my service, with what I can offer you, you can take up her mission, you can help us to spread the cause of the Blood Red Moon, and most important to you, avenge her upon the German that killed her,” Mary explained, passion rising in her voice.

“Power? Cause? What cause?” Rowan watched as Mary’s fangs slid into view, and the hungry eyes of the elder woman glinted in the lamplight.

“Allow me to show you.”

And so the memories that sang within Rowan’s dream-like trance played out her rebirth as a creature of the night. Hidden in the bowels of the stolen ship her unwilling allies piloted to England, Rowan lay in her trance, and dreams plagued the vampire’s mind.

Playing out the first time Maximillian brought her along to replace her sister in beguiling the man who had helped her Queen of Blood build her cult. Maximillian brought her to Vandal Savage, to help keep his gaze from seeing that his own agent had been compromised to the vampire queen. Maximillian explained to the Queen what Vandal Savage was plotting, and now Rowan would continue her sister’s mission, to keep Savage from seeing treachery in Maximillian’s behavior.

Rowan gazed at the powerful man, broad-shouldered, thick-bodied, dressed in such elegant fashions, deep waves of black hair framing the handsome face that smiled at her so sweetly. “Rowan, my lord. It is a pleasure to meet you,” she said with a curtsy as he bowed to her.

Maximillian reported on the Queen of Blood’s actions, her recent meeting with the Dragon Queen at Savage’s behest, to begin worming his influence back into the Oriental sphere which had eluded him in recent decades.

“Excellent,” Savage responded in a distracted way as Rowan gave a coquettish look back at the mastermind. “Continue with the efforts. Bring this Dragon Queen under Seward’s control.” He extended an arm to Rowan. “I have an exquisite table set for dinner. Would you be so good as to join me?”

“I’ll be delighted to accompany you, my lord, but I fear I don’t eat anymore,” Rowan replied with what would have been a blush had she still lived.

“Fear not, dear lady, I always set my table with my guests in mind,” Savage replied with a cruel smile that delighted her heart. A man interested in her, not what she could do in memory of a long-gone sister.

“Then please, lead on,” Rowan replied.

Was it then, her dream-like thoughts mused, that she’d fallen for the immortal villain? Or did it come later? With the gifts and the compliments? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was Mary’s wicked machinations and what they meant, and how Rowan viewed them.

“Rowan, it falls to you to bring Faraday into our web,” Mary Seward explained, while the Dragon Queen talked to one of her people about the mission he needed to achieve. She watched over Seward’s shoulder at how this Takeda fawned over every little compliment fed to him. It made her sick, and excited for the end game to come at last. “Pay attention, this is important. Do you understand? You have to get him, and any allies with him, safely to us. It is bad enough we failed to prevent Savage’s theft of the shield.”

“Of course, my queen,” Rowan said idly, dropping her gaze to the bound stump of her arm. Vandal hadn’t seen it as disfiguring, he’d praised her as a true warrior, and she smiled at the memory. “Rest assured, I intend to see everything brought to a successful conclusion.”

Mary hugged the young woman tightly. “I know you will, Rowan. Now go, and when we meet again, it will be with the world as our oyster.”

Rowan returned the hug and then stalked off to accomplish her goal of finding this American agent, all the while wishing she could feel her heart beat in excitement, for soon her erstwhile queen, that traitorous bitch, would die at her beloved Vandal’s hands.

Rowan’s eyes snapped open as she snapped out of her trance suddenly and completely. The ship had arrived at its destination, and the vampire headed for the deck at a brisk pace. She saw King Faraday at the bow, stiff wind whipping at his white locks as he stared into the gloom of night and fog.

“King,” Rowan announced as she stepped up to him, and let her fingers dance teasingly at the nape of his neck. “How is my stalwart ally doing? Ready for the hunt?”

King Faraday took a deep breath and steeled himself against her honeyed words and teasing touches. His arm lifted up to sweep hers back. “So good of you to join us living people,” he snapped. “Enjoy your beauty rest?”

“Oh, I did,” she answered in a sultry voice as she draped herself against the prow railing, sinuously stretching her body for Faraday to look at. “The more important question is, do you appreciate the results?”

“We’ll be docking the ship in minutes,” Faraday said, pointedly ignoring her question. “What’s ahead of us? What can we expect?”

“All work and no play makes King a dull person,” Rowan teased as she stretched an arm out to let her fingers linger against his bicep. She stood up straight when he brushed her hand away and turned toward her at last. “Fine. You want to know what to expect?”

The dock was finally materializing out of the darkness, and up on the bridge, Rima directed a search light to seek out safe landing, but instead caught metallic glints from something at the small pier.

King Faraday caught it out of the corner of his eye and went to get a better look, but Rowan locked his gaze on her eyes as she smiled hungrily. “Expect capture, torture, death...my lord Vandal achieving his greatness while casting you aside like a broken toy!”

As the ship drew closer, the metallic objects began to leap toward the ship, revealing themselves as robotic men, clicking gears and hissing joints marking their machine-like nature as they began to storm the ship, the first couple battering at Faraday before he could recover from the vampire’s bewitching gaze, her musical laughter filling his ears.

Croydon Airport,
South London
Hans Von Hammer watched as the elegant cigar-shaped craft slowly sank toward the landing moor, becoming tethered to Earth again, and disgorged its passengers. He scanned the line of people that descended from the mooring tower, picking out Cyril “Speed” Saunders at long last. He stood tall and straight, hands clasped at the small of his back, and so still that he seemed a statue to the other people milling around him.

“Hans!” Speed called out to his friend with a concerned look, and started to jog over to him, while his companions all looked around the flat field warily. “Hans, there’s trouble; the Blood Red Moon, they’re coming to grab the diary!”

The German had seen no evidence of the vampires, and the late afternoon sky seemed to offer some protection, but he tensed and also began to scan the passers-by in the airport. “Then let’s get out of here with all due haste,” he answered, taking a quick look at the three people trailing Speed.

“Michael Gallant, Argent St. Cloud, Harriet Cooper, this is Hans Von Hammer,” Speed quickly introduced and pointed to each of his traveling companions. “Hans, meet Michael, Argent and Harriet.” He gave a tilt to his head and a cocksure grin and added, “Let’s get a move on before the bad guys pop up.”

Hans gave a polite bow to each of the ladies in turn, before pivoting on his heel in smart military fashion. “After the etiquette, of course,” Speed teased and started to lead the group across the airfield. “You have transportation?”

“I have acquired a car, but I don’t know if it will fit all five of us,” Hans admitted.

“If we have running boards, we’ll be fine,” Michael replied with a short laugh that drew a look from Von Hammer.

“So you’re the legendary Enemy Ace,” Argent said as she inspected him closely. “You’re everything I’ve heard you were...physically.”

“Most of your countrymen might say the infamous instead,” Hans noted. “Some of my own countrymen, for that fact.”

“They don’t have to be contradictory,” Argent said with a saucy wink as the group neared the pilot’s car. “Now the question to have answered is are you all I’ve heard about in all the other ways.”

“Well, my question is more if you’ve got the diary that the vampire guy wanted so bad,” Harriet interjected, flanking Hans and shooting a worried glance. “Or is it some place safe?”

“Safest place to have that is on him, I’d say,” Speed answered. “Right?”

“I don’t know about that, but I do have it with me,” Hans answered. He was about to say something more after giving Harriet a lingering, quizzical look, but the quintet came to an abrupt stop at the sight around the car.

A dozen men lay scattered, some unconscious, some deceased, all broken in some way, and all members of the Black Dragon Society.

“Wow,” Speed murmured as he checked the area out. “You really this good, Hans?”

“I didn’t do this,” Hans admitted as he drew a pistol from beneath his great coat and Michael balled his fists up. Only another few tense seconds passed before clockwork men rose from various hiding places and began a march toward the group, the men moving in a protective circle around the ladies.

Argent would have none of it, of course, and quickly dashed from the perimeter and gave a powerful roundhouse kick to the nearest of the mechanical attackers. “Agh!” she cried in pain as she stumbled onto her back from the ineffective strike, the clockwork striding past her and toward the others, while more of the machines pressed toward Argent.

Hans fired his gun, blazing shot after shot into the incoming tide of metal to little effect, until he was forced to discard the firearm and enter melee combat against them with Michael and Speed. Some damage had been done, and the three men battled skillfully, a powerful shoulder sliding under one incoming clockwork to send it sailing over Gallant’s back and into a second attacker. Von Hammer sent blow after blow into the cracked joints and chest-plates and skull-pieces of the clockworks he’d shot, enabling him to take advantage of the earlier structural damage to disable a couple more of the attackers. Speed ducked and dueled with another pair, lacking the physical strength or melee skill to stop any, but occupying them as best as his nickname could imply while the others fought.

“I think we’re making headway!” Michael called out as he managed to take down a third and tear off a lower limb to wield as a weapon. “I’m going to try and reach Argent!”

“Sorry,” Harriet said softly.

“Sorry?” Michael and Speed turned to glance over their shoulders, not sure why the woman said that. She held the discarded pistol by the barrel, and with a torn look on her face, eyes avoiding any glance in Speed’s direction, brought the butt down hard against the back of the Enemy Ace’s head, sending him crashing to the ground.

The tide had turned, and the surprise afforded the clockwork men the moment they needed to at last overwhelm the quartet of warriors, leaving Harriet to stare at her hand, drop the gun as if it bit her, and bite her lip. Her eyes teared up as she refused to look in Speed’s direction while the clockworks grabbed the four prisoners and began to walk away from the airfield.

Elsewhere in London
< “Has the other party not returned yet?”> Takeda Hiroshi demanded to know of the three Black Dragon agents before him. Quartered behind a brick-faced building so typical of the narrow, twisted streets of Limehouse, the small group of Japanese agents made their plans and carried out their assignments for this man. Tall, bald, with an ugly mouth and mean small eyes, Takeda Hiroshi presented a cold and callous presence that kept all in line. It also helped that he was the Dragon Queen’s favorite, her consort and most likely to ascend to Dragon King of the Society. < “They should have completed their ambush and been back by now.”>

< “There have been no reports, honored sir,”> one of the men reported nervously. < “They informed us of the airship’s arrival. Even if they had failed, surely our contacts with the police would have provided us a report on the matter?”>

< “We can only assume they’ve failed and paid the price then,”> Hiroshi announced and paced the length of the small room. < “Or will soon. Package the Grail Stone, and prepare to leave the country. We’re done here, and I want our prize returned to the empire and our queen as quickly as possible.”>

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to explain that all to my friends in English?” Trin Dee asked, breaking up the meeting with her presence. She sat on a windowsill, leaning on a bent-up knee and giving a mocking wave. “What about this Grail Stone?”

“Grail? The Holy Grail? That Grail?” Midnight asked with a shocked look on his face, fingers scratching the back of his head and tilting his fedora forward on his brow.

“Dee!” Hiroshi barked, face turning even uglier as he glared at her. “”How do you come to bedevil me here? How could you have even known?”

“That would be my doing, agent of evil.” Mists swirled across the floor and swept up into the form of Andrew Bennett, blazing eyes staring down at Takeda Hiroshi, fangs bared, face inches away from the would-be Dragon King. “Your queen and her...companion, what is your mission for them? Where are they hiding?”

“You don’t frighten me, pathetic creature,” Hiroshi retorted, recovering from the sudden appearance of the vampire. “My queen told me of your arrival. Even if you have bodyguards, it won’t save you from your fate.”

“We’ll be taking this stone with us too,” Trin said as she slid off her sill and drew out the two butterfly swords from beneath her jacket.

“Yeah. Unless you want to try and do something about that,” Midnight added as he cracked his knuckles.

“It is in the basement. I will not risk more of my network here in London in a foolish battle against the likes of you,” Hiroshi admitted with a quiet grumble. “Not when I can avenge this humiliation later, under more ideal circumstances.”

“Then tell us where to find the queens,” Andrew hissed in frustration.

Just as my beautiful queen expected, Hiroshi thought with pride as he stared back at the gentleman monster.

Meanwhile...
...the clockwork men stormed the boat, surrounding Rima and Queen Hippolyta as the battle raged across the deck. Faraday struggled to recover from Rowan’s diversion, but he’d been brought down hard, one arm in great pain as if something inside had torn. His mouth was bleeding from where an errant metal punch slipped past his defenses, and his head throbbed.

Rima struggled with the mechanical men attacking her, unaccustomed to dueling with such unalive creatures. Hippolyta though, kept up the battle, her sword biting into the mechanical attackers, several having already been broken to pieces by her skilled and strong blows. Still though, the mechanical men proved relentless in their attack, and even the Queen of the Amazons was starting to slow and tire, feeling the weight of a dozen small blows.

“By Hera, these legions of Talos seem unending,” Hippolyta cursed as she felt sweat beading down the side of her face. She felt a blow across her back, and then another of the automatons managed to catch her sword-arm in its grip, leaving her open to further attack.

“What are these soulless things? Where do they come from?” Rima asked as she twisted and vaulted herself from their grip, forearms and calves already heavily bruised from the struggles. “I have never even imagined their like!”

“This is all very stirring, really it is, last stands and all that, but will the three of you just get beaten already?” Rowan snarled as she watched the melee. She was so wrapped up in watching and waiting for the victory to come, she didn’t hear the droning noise from on high at first. Only when the persistent sound grew louder did she spare an upward glance.

It was an airplane, but one like she’d not seen before, with what appeared to be two fuselages trailing from the cabin, and it dipped down toward the ship with grace and ease. She was snapped out of her reverie when guns blazed from the incoming aircraft, heavy caliber projectiles tearing through the mechanical men. Some fragments tore into her pale skin and drew a pained, angry hiss as her shape fell into a small cloud of mist and slipped over the side of the ship in retreat.

The sleek, advanced plane streaked over the ship and swung around in a tight arc as the pilot dipped lower and scattered more of the clockwork men, providing the heroes a chance to shake off their own attackers and regroup.

“Who is that?” Hippolyta asked as she sliced the last of her artificial foes in two and then stared up at the plane. “How is it that we are so easy to find?”

“It’s the Danger Trail,” Rima said as she smiled at the sight. “Whoever flies that metal bird knows of it, and how to traverse it. Those who traverse it are able to get where needed, often arriving as needed by the narrowest of margins. Just one of the gifts it offers.”

“Still doesn’t answer my first question,” Hippolyta snarled as she watched the plane head toward land, dropping lower and lower, trying to find a place to land.

“I think I know, and if it’s him, then I think this Trail that Rima talked up will turn out to be more than superstition,” Faraday answered and waved the women to follow him as he headed off the boat to meet the pilot.

When the trio finally pushed themselves through the brush and sparse trees in the rolling fields of southern England, they saw the plane, resting out under the bright moon, the pilot leaning up against his beloved craft, a jaunty smile on his craggy face. He wore a cowboy hat perched atop blond hair, and hunched into the leather pilot’s jacket, waving a gloved hand at the arrivals.

“Howdy, folks. Thought you all might need a hand. Hope you don’t mind?”

“Who--?” Hippolyta started to ask again, to be interrupted by King, who stomped up to the pilot as he answered.

“American war hero, the Balloon Buster himself.” He stopped close to Savage, who stood straight and tall and met Faraday eye-to-eye, “Steven...Savage. I never made a connection before now.”

“Yeah, well I guess if you’re making the connection now, then I was right to come charging to the rescue,” Steven said with a thumb’s up sign. “What made you think it was me?”

“I’m aware of Lockheed’s military contract,” Faraday replied. “And that they hired you to whip this up. Seems you did a good job.”

“Got some bugs to work out, but I’m pretty pleased with the result so far.”

Faraday clasped the pilot’s shoulder and shook his hand. “Nice to see you. Thanks for the save, but if what Rima tells me is true, and if you’re confessing to the name connection, I’m guessing you’re here for a purpose outside of simple cavalry charge?”

“Rima? Which one of the lovely ladies is Rima?” Steven asked as he peered out past Faraday to look over the scandalously-dressed women. He saw the pale-skinned, black-haired jungle woman wave back at his question with a shy turn of her head.

“I am Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, and my companion is Rima, Daughter of the Didi,” the warrior woman announced with an edge to her voice as she stepped up next to Faraday. “Best that you keep a respectful tongue when you talk to and about us.”

“Enough with the Suffrage warning, and with the introductions,” Faraday said with shortening patience. “Vandal Savage sent those machine men, and now we need to figure out where he is, and what he’s up to, and I can’t shake the feeling that we’re running out of time. So, Mr. Savage, if you have something to say, say it.”

“I’ve got a big book on my ancestor,” Steven said as he reached up into his cockpit and pulled out the collected papers and journals, stuffed into a canvas binder. “And call me Steve. If we’re going to be talking about my lineage, let’s let him be ‘Mr. Savage’. I have a decent idea what he’s up to, as insane as it seems.” He passed the binder to Faraday, who glanced at the collection of pages, and held it so Hippolyta could look at it too. “More important, I’m pretty sure I know where we can find him doing this dog and pony show of his.”

“Where would that be...Steve?” Rima asked as she stepped up near to him, glancing up to the beautiful blue eyes.

“One of his names way back when was Melwas, an evil knight that turned on King Arthur,” Steven explained. “At least, as the legend puts it. But he was Melwas, and Melwas did have a castle at Glastonbury. If everything I’ve read up on that place is true, it’s gotta be where he’s doing what he’s been planning to do since...God, let’s just say a long, long time back.”

“What is it he is planning?” Hippolyta asked as she looked up from the binder, her face laced with growing concern at the few pages she and Faraday had flipped through so far.

“He wants to steal our heroes,” Steven replied, trying to make it sound serious, despite the outlandish claim. “I can’t explain it much better. It’s way above my head. But he’s going to do some hoodoo that steals the world’s legends.”

Glastonbury Tor
“Vandal,” Mary Seward said as she stepped out of the dark corners of the ancient building and approached the immortal villain. “It’s time? All the pieces are in place?”

“Almost,” Vandal Savage replied as he looked up from the final preparations of the room they were in. Mystic symbols were drawn on the floor, candles flickering and casting strange shadows against the weird geometric shapes littering the room. “One of the pieces I’d intended to use has been stolen before our people could acquire it, but with the Spear of Destiny in my possession, and Perseus’s shield to focus the energies, and the Two-Fold Tomes with the secret words, I will make do without the stone.”

“The tomes?” Mary smiled at the word. “You have them now?”

“The prisoners are being kept downstairs, and the books are in secure hands,” Vandal said. “I’m just waiting for one last element.” He stared down at Mary, burying his anger with the treacherous woman beneath the stoic calm he always presented to the world. He let the excitement of the moment help to keep his rage from sweeping away from him. The Grail Stone, the protective tablet that secured all the facets of what was now called the Holy Grail, was taken by this traitorous witch’s lover, and she had the gall to stand there and talk of mutual triumph. “Come, I’ll show you.”

Mary followed Savage down to the ground floor, which was swept clean of everything but four people bound tight to simple wooden chairs, at cardinal compass points around Richard Occult strapped and bolted to the floor in the center, underneath what would be the very middle of the ornate ritual room one floor above. To one side of the room, quiet and sullen and looking away, was Harriet Cooper, making final notes in the Ineffable Libram as Dee’s diary lay next to it.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see at least two of our guests bleeding for our cause,” Mary purred as she walked up next to the bound Speed Saunders, and ran her fingers over the back of his shoulders. “I’ll be getting my hands on that agent friend of yours as well, rest assured. You won’t suffer alone, you or Von Hammer. They’re coming to join you.”

Speed said nothing, just glared at the Queen of Blood with red, hurt eyes, his normally cheerful face sullen and dark.

“I fear not, my Queen,” Rowan announced sadly as she materialized at the doorway, coalescing from the night mists. “We have been denied. The clockwork soldiers were dispatched by an untimely arrival.” She swept across the floor and knelt between the two masterminds.

“Heh. So much for that boasting,” Michael taunted Mary.

“It does seem someone counted their chickens before they hatched,” Argent added.

“Be silent!” Mary yelled angrily, turning on the closer prisoner, Michael, and slapping his face hard. “How could you let this happen, Rowan?”

“Leave the young lady be,” Vandal said as he put a hand on Mary’s shoulder. “I spent the first couple of centuries blazing the mystic pathway that criss-crosses this sorry globe, making it provide fortune’s power to those adventurous enough to seize the day. Nothing traverses my highway without my knowing about it. We have my own blood to thank for Rowan’s failure.”

“They are coming, you can be sure of that,” Rowan added. “We have to be ready for them.”

“We shall be, my dear, we shall be,” Vandal reassured the younger vampire, a thick arm draped over her slender shoulders as she gazed up at him adoringly.

Now Mary hid her true reaction. While she was not nearly as ancient as Vandal, she was old enough to recognize that look. Now she understood how her people had failed to retrieve the shield, all too well. She struggled to keep her composure, to not let her own hand show, but she fumed and swore inwardly that the turncoat temptress would die painfully at her hands.

“Harriet!” Vandal Savage called out, waving her over. “The time has come. We must begin, our window grows short. All of those trite sayings. Have you made the last few translations?”

“Yes, sir,” Harriet said softly as she collected up the books known as the Two-Fold Tomes, and hurried over to the mastermind’s side. “We’re prepared.” Her voice was low, and cracked and she took the long way around the room to avoid Speed’s presence.

“Why do you need translations? Aren’t you old enough to speak this language?” Mary asked as she watched Harriet linger close to the other side of Savage now. She’d die too, Mary had decided. Too dangerous, and now clearly as much a turncoat as Rowan. Yes, this woman would have to be dispatched as well.

“It has been a long time since I have spoken these ancient words,” he answered. “Even my memory has its limits. The Ineffable Libram is filled with a dozen different lost languages. I do not wish to test those limits across such a stretch of languages. This is too important to me. I’ve spent too long at this now. Besides, power changes to respond to the way the world changes, and the world revolves around this new language.”

Mary followed Savage and his two women back up the stairs to the ritual room. She could almost feel her unbeating heart pound in her chest as the tension built.

“Harriet, you will stay up here, keep the candles lit, and incense burning in the shield. You’ll maintain everything in this room, while we perform the ritual downstairs,” Vandal explained. “Do you understand?” She nodded her head and looked up at his face. “Good girl. Very good girl.” His callused fingertips brushed her cheek possessively.

“Then my family will be all squared away? They’ll be out, free and clean? No reprisals?” she asked in a voice more firm than before, though still tinged with desperation.

“Yes, my dear, yes.” He turned to the vampires. “Now come along, I’ll cast the ritual over Richard while you two stand watch for any eventuality.” He headed back downstairs, grinning as he imagined the way the two women most likely tried to covertly stare and glare at each other.

At the bottom-most stair, Vandal Savage’s head snapped backward suddenly as Midnight jammed his fist into it. “Hey there. Not quite sure about everything that’s going on here, but I’m betting beating you up will put a dent into it.”

Vandal Savage growled and thrust his head forward, smashing his thickened brow into Midnight’s forehead and staggering the masked man back. “I will not be manhandled by the likes of you!” He backhanded Midnight, who spun off to the side.

The villain stormed toward the vigilante, balling up his fists and lashing out again. Midnight regained his balanced and charged into Vandal, tackling him at this midsection and ignoring the first couple of pounding blows to his back as he tried to throw Savage to the ground. Savage’s superior skill and size soon dislodged the masked man, who was flung into a stone wall, and then felt himself being kicked hard in the chest.

Mary and Rowan had followed Savage into the room to confront Midnight’s partners. Andrew Bennett was standing near the bound Richard Occult, while Trin Dee leaped at Mary with a graceful and powerful flying kick, one side-stepped by the Queen of Blood while Rowan angrily charged at the woman who’d cost her a hand. A stump was tucked into the velvet of her dress, hiding the metal cuff that capped her arm off now.

“You witch, you wretched creature, I’ll tear you apart!” Rowan snarled like an angry beast as the metal cuff cracked into Trin’s head and staggered her back. “I’ll feast on your flesh and bathe in your blood for what you did to me!”

Andrew gripped a strap holding down Dr. Occult when the palm of his hand smoked and sizzled and he pulled it back quickly, clutching his wound, and giving Mary a chance to close with her husband. “Of course we’d make sure the straps can’t be so easily removed, husband,” she teased him and kicked him in the chest, causing him to roll backward. “We’re too close, much too close to the great work, and I’ll not let you get in our way again!”

“And which of you gets to decide the results of this insane working, Mary? You or Savage?” Bennett returned to his feet and drew a sword from his cane, holding the point toward her.

“Savage? When I said our plan, I meant my love, Andrew,” Mary replied as she drew up short, hands up, taking a step back from the blade. A cold, cruel smile crossed her face. “And no, I no longer mean you, Andrew.”

“She means me, vampire,” the Dragon Queen said from the dark shadows behind, as she slipped up behind and lashed out with a silver knife, dragging it across Andrew’s neck. “I know you can’t die, for some reason. We’ll find a way to correct that. But you still need blood, and if it flows out of your body, you’ll be too weak to interfere.”

Andrew gasped and gagged and clutched his neck, the skin burning from the wound, and he staggered to a knee, furious at himself for coming so close, and not being able to finish this tiring war. He felt the searing wound and loss of blood weaken and slow him as the Dragon Queen laughed, taunting him and slashing idly at his back.

Vandal Savage turned away from Midnight and laid the Ineffable Libram out on a small stand, glancing at the words of power, preparing to speak the incantation when Midnight tackled him from behind. Vandal spun, and used momentum and force to dislodge the battered crime-fighter. “You are reminding me why there is no room for your kind in this world I’ll build, masked man!”

“Gl-glad to hear it,” Midnight replied, slowly pulling himself to his feet, wobbling but refusing to fall over.

Trin had kicked Rowan back and leaped up to her feet, swords drawn and staring the temptress down. “Oh wait! I remember you now. Yes, sorry, I forgot for a moment why you might be upset. You’re the vampire I disarmed, are you not?” She then spun toward Rowan, blades whirling ever closer, and Rowan panicked, phantom pain in her ruined arm making her squeak in fear and revert to mist. “Apparently, Midnight’s been a bad influence on me,” the swordswoman smirked at her joke before noticing the danger Andrew was in. She raced to his side, slashing at the Queen of Blood and making her recoil. “You I know all too well though! You I have been trained to oppose with all my energy!” Trin declared to Mary.

“And I know you, Trin,” Dragon Queen said as she threw the knife at Dee, who sidestepped it easily. That’s when the mist reappeared around her feet and coalesced back into the shape of Rowan.

“Seeing me as a coward will be the last thing you see!” Rowan yelled as she struck Dee on the back of the head with her cuffed stump, driving her to her knees as the Dragon Queen drew out a small pistol.

“Never a coward,” Mary said with a smile. “I view you not as a coward. I view you as one who has loved too well...but not wisely!” The gun fired, and a hole appeared in Rowan’s chest.

“A bullet?” She looked confused, then felt the odd sensation inside of her, saw the edges of the wound smoke, felt her body seizing up as she staggered.

“Holy water capsule, actually,” Mary said calmly as she watched the blessed liquid wreak torturous havoc on Rowan’s body, her skin cracking and blistering, her mouth contorted in pain. She heard Vandal start the ritual and knew that he’d be in no position to avenge this witch...if he was even so inclined.

Rowan staggered into a wall, struggled to keep upright, struggled to resist the pain, but her body was flaking, cracking apart, and soon she collapsed into an ashen heap on the floor, before turning fully to dust.

“Now what do we do with you two?” Mary sneered as she grabbed Trin by the hair and used her great strength to swing the woman face-first into the stone wall. Trin’s nose cracked and lip split as stars exploded in her eyes, then Mary was dragging Trin by the hair back to the ritual.

She returned to the main room to see Vandal reciting the words, feeling the crackle of electricity filling the air, charging up all of reality around them. Midnight was standing yet again, and once more trying to dislodge Vandal, who backhanded him this time and shook his head.

“This one is most frustrating,” Vandal admitted. “It’s like striking a rubber ball, he comes back for more.” As if to emphasize the point, Midnight was already dragging himself back up to his feet, an eye sealed shut and mouth swelled up amongst his other wounds. “But the transfer is nearly complete...a few more moments...a few more moments and the key will have brought us across the barrier to a higher place!”

“What the hell is going on?” Speed asked as a dull roaring sound started to fill the air, and the walls began to shimmer with an inner light. He felt dizzy, like there was too much oxygen in the air. Most everyone in the room felt a lurching sensation that made them unsettled, unbalanced them. Savage felt nothing though, long prepared for this journey.

Doctor Occult reacted differently as well. His eyes snapped open as the passing of Glastonbury into the High Realms swept the tranquilizers from his body and filled him with energy. His mind was clear now and he looked around to take the situation in.

“Damned if I know!” Michael hollered back as he continued to work on his bonds. All the adventurers were trying to escape, but Savage had been a hunter and a survivor for long before he became a statesman and manipulator, and the bonds held fast. “Who’s the guy in the middle?”

“Doctor Occult,” Speed answered. “Doc, can you hear us?”

“I can now, yes,” Richard said in a more controlled voice, refusing to let the situation rattle him. He could feel the way Glastonbury thrust up into what was better known among mystics as the Iconic Realm. “And Vandal Savage is taking this whole place into Briah.”

“Briah?” Speed asked, trying to move his chair now, to get closer to Richard.

“A realm where all the legends of our world spring from, and go to,” Occult tried to explain quickly. “Savage is intending to steal it away!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Michael snapped at the mystic.

“I see,” Hans said softly. “Brilliant. He takes this place that holds and powers the legends of the world, and denies it to the world, and uses the energy to set himself up as the only legend!”

“Yes,” Occult grimly confirmed. “His greatest wish, to remove heroism and impossible hope, and give himself the chance to save the world from whatever delusion he sees coming. But don’t worry...it’s all good. I’m ready.”

“You’re ready? Looks to me like you’re strapped to a floor in a ritual being run by a madman with vampires running around,” Michael pointed out to the mystic.

“They aren’t the only ones,” Occult said with a calm smile. “This is the realm of heroes, after all. If my contacts have done their job, Vandal’s own blood is going to handle the rest.”

“Vandal’s blood?” Speed asked, confused, looking at his partners. “What does that mean?” He noticed Hans Von Hammer starting to smile now too, and a look of understanding crossed his face. “Hans?”

“Savage,” Hans replied. “Of course. Brilliantly played, Doctor.”

“What are they prattling about, Savage?” Mary demanded to know, but the immortal villain never had a chance to answer.

Instead, splintering wood, crashing glass and pounding hooves answered her question as down the now pristine and grand hallway of the glittering castle that once existed in Glastonbury Tor came three white chargers. At their lead was King Faraday, and flanking him close was the Queen of the Amazons and the Balloon Buster, bearing down quickly on the masterminds.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” Midnight said with a cough. He staggered along the outer edge of the room, backing away from the fight to come, and stumbling over the small table that Harriet had been working at before this whole ritual began.

Trin dropped to the ground in a heap as Mary released her and turned to face the new arrivals. She watched as all three of them charged into Vandal Savage, leaping from their horses and dragging him to the ground.

“Faraday! You have cost me enough!” Mary said as she grabbed the agent by the shoulders and pulled him away from his current fight, flinging him across the floor. “You’ll not cost me this moment too! I’ll have my revenge on you, on Savage, on my husband and I’ll see the Blood Red Moon rise over the Earth!”

“Do! Not! Touch! Me! Filth!” Savage roared as he backhanded Steven and hurtled him to the side, bouncing him off the stone floor and into a wall with a hard grunt. Hippolyta drew her sword as Savage leaped up to his feet much quicker than she expected from a man his size. He wove around her initial sword strikes, too skilled a warrior for an easy defeat. Instead, he maneuvered their battle to his needs as he said to her, “If it isn’t the whore of Heracles! When this is done and I am warden of the Earth, perhaps I’ll sample what I heard first-hand about those centuries ago.”

“Monster! I’ll make sure you’re never in a position to defile one of my people,” Hippolyta promised as she made a series of strikes that forced Savage back, toward a corner, trapping him in place.

Until he reached up and pulled down the weapon he’d moved toward by directing her attack. The spear was simple looking, but when he gripped it tight, it crackled with power, and he smiled wickedly. “The Spear of Destiny, woman. There is no fighting Destiny!”

Faraday was flung to the far side of the room and Mary swept in on him before he had a chance to clear his head. “I’ll devise new tortures for you, Faraday! I’ll find new ways to make you pay for your interference!”

The Dragon Queen watched her beloved with a smug look, so proud, so full of joy for the vampire woman as she beat on the agent of the United States. Here in the Iconic Realm, perhaps this will resonate back in the world? she mused idly before turning her attention back to Bennett. “And now to finish with you,” she said. She felt a tapping on her shoulder. She turned slowly, furious for being interrupted.

Rima stood there, and shook her head. A massive bear loomed up behind her, a tiger and a lion stood on either side of her, lean and sleek and radiant in primal splendor, as crows and hawks began to perch on the sconces of the hall they were in. “The Daughter of the Didi says to you, no.”

“I have to quite agree with her,” Bennett said to the Dragon Queen as he straightened himself out, dusting off his sleeves and trouser legs. “The flaw in draining me of blood to weaken me, and then dragging me to a spiritual realm, is that blood isn’t all that important here.”

Her cry of surprise, rage and pain echoed through the castle, distracting Mary from her assault on Faraday. She turned to look in the direction of her lover, and then felt a sharp pain in her back. She cried out and reached over to tear the weapon out, spinning around to see a battered and tattered Midnight, wobbling and shaky. She stared at the pencil she’d torn out and then at Midnight. “You attempted to stake me with a pencil, foolish man?”

“No. The pencil was to get you to turn around, so I could stake you with the table leg,” Midnight answered as he plunged the shaft of wood through her chest with all his remaining strength. She screamed in agony and collapsed to the floor, growing still and immobile. “I’m done, go and help the dame you brought. Savage is a monster fighter.”

Faraday nodded and dashed to the battle, crossing the room and seeing Trin Dee moving from person to person, butterfly swords slashing in the light and releasing the prisoners. He leaped forward and tackled Savage as the villain raised the spear up to deliver a crippling blow to the Amazon who’d been forced back hard.

“No more conspiracies, no more corruption, no more playing with my people like they’re your tinker toys!” Faraday yelled as he straddled Savage’s chest and lashed out with blow after blow into the immortal’s face. “I won’t let you!”

Savage roared in fury and, with his hands on the haft of the spear, flung Faraday away contemptuously, rising back to his feet. “Who are you to deny me my rightful due?”

Faraday rolled up to his feet and wiped his mouth and immediately ran back into the fight. “I’m just a patriot who knows my people are the best chance at defying tyrants like you!” He watched as Savage swung the haft toward him and let it strike him in the side, wrapping his arms around it and twisting with all his might. Momentum and righteous fury combined to dislodge Savage from his feet and land him on his back. He didn’t stay there long, and rolled back up to his feet in time to feel Hippolyta’s sword slice down his back, and he pulled with his mighty arms on the spear and tore it back from Faraday’s hands.

Harriet Cooper had been upstairs for the battle. She had maintained the room as she listened to the struggles downstairs. She knew that the transfer of Glastonbury was complete, and knew from her translations that the time to start Savage’s ritual was now. She took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and then began to creep back down the stairs. She peered around the corner and watched in awe at the sight. Savage, in the middle of the room, elegant clothes torn, one arm bleeding, and holding off nearly a dozen people. The Spear of Destiny in his hands elevated his already masterless tactical and combat prowess, immortal strength and stamina driving him forward. She knew what her instructions were. It’s why he had her translate the book. He didn’t need the translations. She did.

She would need to read the ritual if he became inundated with foes. It’s why Savage had hid her upstairs. In a spiritual realm, candles and incense didn’t need to be maintained. But in a nest of vipers like Mary Seward and Rowan, and Maximillian before them, Savage had bluffed them all.

She walked up to the book and turned a withered page and looked at the words, and then looked at Savage, who spared her a half-glance to encourage his secret weapon to begin.

And so she began to speak the ritual, reading the words in a clear and determined voice, her heart pounding, her forehead sweating, her knees wobbling. She had one chance to get this done, one chance to make him proud.

And she spoke the words and smiled at Speed as the assembled adventurers turned to face her and watch her in disbelief, some of their faces filled with rage at being betrayed, Speed with grief in his eyes as she spoke the last word.

But it was Savage that roared in unbridled fury. She’d translated the ritual and he’d looked it over, and never once had noticed that she’d made what should have been an “L” look like an “I”. There wasn’t enough time for that. Not such a small thing, nearly invisible to the eye. But as quick as that little change in letters was, the results were equally quick. The Ineffable Libram burst into flame, consuming itself and the Iconic Glastonbury burst like a soap bubble.

Epilogue
Slowly, King Faraday picked his way through the conical hill of Glastonbury Tor, the ancient ruined building that looked over a small rural town coming to life with the dawning sun. He found others scattered around, but not everyone yet. When Savage roared, and Cooper said...whatever she had said, everything just yanked out from underneath them, and Faraday woke up some time later, sore and battered, but alive and apparently, with full memory of all the heroes he’d been told about as a kid. All the greats were in his head: Paul Bunyan, Wild Bill Pecos, Johnny Appleseed, the great founder of his home, Washington; he remembered the Sons of Liberty, and the masked heroine Miss Liberty; the heroes of the Wild West filled his head too. They were all there. Savage had to have failed, right? And so Faraday moved around, seeking the others out.

“Yes, he failed,” Dr. Occult said as he walked over to Faraday. “Well done, well done indeed.”

“What happened?” Speed asked as he found his way to the others. “I don’t get it.”

“Miss Cooper chose to turn the Libram in on itself,” Richard explained as Steven Savage and Midnight and Hans Von Hammer slowly made their way to the group. As Occult explained, the group moved around the area gathering more of the adventurers to them, ensuring they were all well, as well as the brutal fight allowed. “Doing that, she stopped the ritual and we were dropped back to the mundane level of reality. This world. The one you all know so well. And prevented Vandal Savage, or anyone really, from being able to try such a stealing of mythic energy again.”

“Where is she?” Speed asked, darting around looking for her as Trin helped Midnight to stand on his feet, his body looking as dark as his suit normally looked. Argent and Michael stood close and leaned on each other as well, while Rima and Hippolyta hung back from the crowd. Some in the group couldn’t help but notice the way Steven and she stole glances at each other still though. “And Mary, and Andrew and...well, apparently, all the bad guys?”

“Probably waking up where they want,” Occult answered. “You came here, because you all wanted to defend this place from the enemy. They wanted to retreat, to hide and recuperate from the loss.” He looked at Speed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I suspect Miss Cooper is too ashamed to see you. You all did well, though. Very well. True heroes, each one of you. Briah will welcome you in time, I am sure.”

“Pardon me, Doc, but I’m just as happy to keep both feet on the ground,” Steven said with a jaunty smile, then looked at Hans and added, “Well, you know what I mean.”

“My family has a house not far from here,” Argent said as she moved closer to the middle of the group. “Breakfast is on me.” She walked through the group, an arm around Michael’s waist as she started to lead the way, and glanced up at him. “Of course, here’s hoping there’s something there to feed everyone now. Proper hostess and all that.”

Michael Gallant chuckled as the group slowly started to trudge away, Doctor Occult staying in his spot and settling his hat on his head. Behind him stood the Queen of the Amazons and the Daughter of the Didi, neither of whom felt a place in this strange world of men, of civilization. So the three outsiders watched as the others walked down the hill and toward their sunrise.

The End