Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Five days till the Global Unveiling of Bluetannia: The pain going through Chabe’s body was stinging and unmercifully persistent consistent. There were two instances in his five centuries of life that could match what he felt now. The first instance occurred while on vacation three years ago in Spain. He made a joke about the mother of a Real Madrid supporter during a Champions League match which resulted in a fight that stretched out over four city blocks. The second time was on a bar sojourn in Avalon. He spent two hours debating Dionysus about Spanish art which culminated somehow into a drinking contest. He was not sure who won. All he remembered was waking up two weeks later outside Brigid’s castle which resulted in the bear god’s position at the Guardian.
Chabe opened his eyes to the sight of cold, unfeeling concrete. He looked around the room and noted little else around him except metal bars and gray-black walls. “Where am I?” he wondered.
Chabe slowly pressed himself off the ground and into a seated position. He searched his pants pockets for his Molltach. All he found were torn pieces of fabric. He tried to stand up and move, but was halted by the cast-iron chains on his legs and wrists. He tried twice to break from his metal constructs. Each time the bear god collapsed on the floor.
“Save your strength, Chabe,” said a weak voice from behind the wall. “The chains you wear are made from Osmanium. It’d take half your weight in C4 just to make a dent in it.”
Chabe turned his head to one side and leaned forward. “Kahrter,” he said. “Is that you?”
“Yes indeed it is, good sir,” Kahrter replied slightly louder than before. “Nice to see you still among the land of the living.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Chabe rested the chains on his lap. He looked around at the ceiling of the cell. “Where are we?”
“We appear to be in a holding facility.” Kahrter’s reply was interrupted by a violent coughing fit that lasted a couple of seconds. “Though I have no idea where precisely.”
“Are you okay?” Chabe asked. “You sound like something my pet Griffin hacked up.”
“I am perfectly fine, my friend,” Kahrter chuckled. A second later, he let out a hacking cough. “My guess is it’s a side effect of whatever drug they shot me with.”
The announcement came as a surprise to the bear god. “You were drugged?”
“Yes. At least that’s what I assumed happened. Weren’t you drugged?”
“I’d remember if someone tried to drug me,” said Chabe, lying back against the wall. “The last thing I remember was being knocked out by a baton and having a bag dragged over my face as a group of mercenaries raided the Guardian.”
The bear god pondered what fate had in store for them as the cells returned to silence. He lifted his arms in front of him and tried again to break out of his metal confines. But he could take only four steps before the chains stopped him. Chabe growled in frustration and slammed the floor with his fist.
“How many did they take in this raid?” Kahrter asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
Chabe sighed and turned his gaze to the ceiling. “I’m not certain…I was too busy trying to survive to count. When I finally came to, I was here.”
Kahrter sighed. “I am certain they are safe and sound, old friend, especially with Ms. Ollathair leading them.”
“True,” Chabe nodded. He paused and contemplated for a few moments. He turned his head back to the wall. “Do you know if any of the others from the Guardian are here as well?”
“I have no idea,” Kahrter replied. “All I’ve seen so far are gray walls and iron bars.”
Chabe let out another sorrowful sigh. “I figured as much.” He closed his eyes. A rush of tears started at the thought of his hollow fate.
The bear god put his head in his hands and began to cry. “My gods, Chabe,” said Kahrter in disbelief. “What did they do to you?”
The sound of his friend’s offended question jolted Chabe’s eyes open. He lifted his head out of his hands, wiping his eyes briefly. “Excuse me?!”
“This isn’t you,” the ogre continued. “The misery, the dejection in your voice. That’s not the bear god I have come to know. The man who survived the Siberian tundra with nothing but his claws and a stick fort.”
Chabe stood again, this time with renewed fire in his eyes. “What mood would you have me take on then? We’re in a prison in the middle of nowhere, bound by all but unbreakable chains. Hope is all but gone at this point, my friend.”
“You saved a boat full of people surrounded by great whites in the middle of the Bering Sea,” Kahrter fired back. He was interrupted by a coughing spurt before he continued. “There’s no one I know in this world who has more heart and determination than you.”
“You’re right, K,” said Chabe his eyes ablaze. “What in el infierno have I been thinking? I’ve been through worse situations before, and gotten out unharmed. This is nothing!”
“That’s the Chabe I know!”
“Are you ready over there, K?” Chabe asked.
“That I am,” Kahrter replied. “I may be a little bit tardy in starting my push, given my condition.”
Chabe curled his arms towards him, observing his shackles. “Maret-Jikky,” he sighed. “Give me strength!”
He took a deep breath and pushed forward with all the strength he could muster. Chabe heard a clang from behind the wall, which told him that Kahrter had started as well. The bear god could feel the chains tighten and the shackles squeeze bite his wrists. The hinges on the wall that held him back started to waver and strain from the constant pressure.
“Just...a little... more!” Chabe cried, straining every muscle in his upper body. A short time later, the weakened hinges began to dislodge from the wall.
The ground suddenly shook violently underneath his feet, halting his forward momentum. Chabe let the heavily stressed chains drop to the ground with a limp thud and turned to the wall. “What happened, K,” he grinned. “You getting weak in your old age?”
Chabe’s grin quickly disappeared when he heard no response from his ogre friend. Suddenly, a door opened in the distance. He quickly sat back down, pounding the bent edges of each hinge back into the wall as the footsteps grew louder. He assumed a slumped manner and gave off a depressed look as the guard came into view.
The guard pushed a shopping cart full of what sounded like tools of some kind across the floor beyond his cell. The guard was dressed in a black collared dress shirt and slacks with a dark blue flat top hat. From what Chabe could see, the man was no bigger than one of his legs.
The guard stopped in front of Kahrter’s cell. He approached the front of Chabe’s cell door, his hand tensed just above his baton. “Keep your eyes to the ground, heathen!”
Chabe growled. “Jodido bastardo!”
“What was that?” The guard fired back, leaning closer to the metal bars. His hand gripped the baton handle, ready to use it on his prisoner.
The bear god looked up at the guard’s eyes. What he saw was an orange-purple glow from the middle of the retinas of his eyes. It had the markings of a possession, he thought. But it’s not specific to a certain realm. Chabe shook his head and returned to looking solemnly at the ground.
“I didn’t think so,” the guard exclaimed. He turned around and walked back to his cart. “Gilipollas!”
The guard turned around and made his way to Kahrter’s cell. He unlocked the cell door with a key placed on his belt buckle. He made his way back to the cart and pushed it inside, opening the door as he went. The cart stopped a couple of seconds later.
“Mr. Kahrter,” the guard said, slamming the cell door behind him. “How are we feeling?”
“Like I’ve gone ten rounds with a Buggane,” Kahrter scoffed weakly. “Otherwise, quite lovely!”
“Ah, that wicked tongue,” the guard let out an evil chuckle. “He warned me about that. I must say I will have some fun ripping it out of your head.”
Three thumps followed from the other side. “What do you want,” Kahrter asked despairingly. “Information? Money?”
The guard shook his head twice. “We already have all the necessary information. All we want now is your silence.”
“Do your worst.” Kahrter snickered back.
The sound of two pairs of footsteps followed a short time later: one pair moved forward while the other pair moved backward. Chabe had an idea of which side those footsteps belonged to. “Keep your head up, old friend,” the bear god said under his breath.
A split second later, the footsteps stopped. “I plan to do exactly that, filthy ogre,” he said menacingly. “And with your last breath, you will watch as this disgusting world fades to dust.”
Chabe suddenly heard the hard thud of an uppercut, breaking bones. A series of kicks and punches followed. In Chabe’s mind, he envisioned the kind of fight going on behind the concrete wall. Every part of him desperately wanted to rip off his chains and join in the battle. But he didn’t know what type of tools would be sent back in his direction. So, he remained on the cold unforgiving ground, silently cheering for his friend as the fight continued.
The fighting suddenly stopped with a bang. He heard a scream and a crash to the floor. It sounded like a stack of bricks had fallen from a roof. Chabe split his focus between the cell wall and the cell door, waiting tensely to see who held the blade and who the wounds of its sharp justice.
A minute later, he could hear pained grunts and heavy breathing, followed by fingernails that briefly scraped the wall before another hard thud could be heard. None of which provided the bear god an idea who had made those noises. Then, the cell doors opened. The cart rolled out once more a short time later past him with the guard at the helm.
“You son of a bitch,” Chabe yelled, springing to his feet in a fighting position. “Fight me like a god, Charon!”
“Charon,” the guard stopped and glared at Chabe. He walked menacingly toward the metal bars. “I’m not Charon. I am…merely one of his many followers.”
“His follower?”
“You think they could have gotten this far without allies in humanity,” the guard moved his face to within millimeters of the bar. His eyes grew wider as he spoke. “There are thousands of us who want nothing more than to see this world cleansed of its mongrel, ungodly filth.”
Chabe flashed his claws and lifted them just below his waist, ready to fight. “I wouldn’t try that if I were you, heathen.” The guard patted the holster on his left hip where his firearm was kept. “This gun is armed with bullets that can cut through four feet of iron. I would hate if you meet the same fate as your ogre friend.”
The two locked eyes. Finally, Chabe retracted his claws. He slowly went down on one knee and shook his head.
“I didn’t think so,” the guard snickered.
“Good sir, why do you choose to follow Charon,” Chabe asked as the guard walked away. “Don’t you see that you will die as well if he and his associate are successful?”
“I have made my peace with that,” the guard replied. He gripped the handlebars and casually turned back toward the bear god. “For I know there’s a better life waiting for me by the side of the true God. I recommend you do the same thing. That is, if He’ll even listen.”
He turned and walked away a short time later, pushing his cart ahead of him. Chabe turned his attention to the wall, hoping to hear any signs of life from his friend. All he could hear were a couple of agonized and pained grunts.
“Kahrter,” Chabe walked as close to the wall as his chains would allow. “Are you still with us, amigo?”
“Y—yes, I am, my friend,” he replied weakly. “I am not certain how long though.”
“What happened?”
“We had a—bit of a scuffle,” Kahrter let out a violent cough for a few moments before answering. His voice became weaker with each passing second. “I held up as best as I could. But …it wasn’t good enough. I see now this place will be my burial chamber.”
“You are gonna be fine,” said Chabe, flashing a half-hearted smile. “Once I break out of my chains, I’ll get you and we’ll go to a proper hospital and—”
“I appreciate the optimism,” Kahrter interjected with a chuckle. It was preceded a second later by another violent coughing fit. “But this is my sista hurra.”
“Don’t weep for me when I go,” he added. “I’ve lived a pretty good life for an ugly arsed ogre!”
Chabe tried to chuckle, but managed only a weak sigh. The tears welled up in his eyes and trickled slowly down his cheeks. Death had been a foreign concept for much of the bear god’s life. Something that he would observe from afar in regards to the humans he interacted with. And now, within the span of a week, two of his closest friends had died.
“I’m sorry, Kahrter,” he said mournfully, his voice breaking. “I should have tried to help you.”
“Don’t burden yourself, Chabe,” Kahrter replied reassuringly. “We’ve shared too many good moments the past half a millennia for them to be diminished by regret.”
Chabe flashed a little grin that came and went in the blink of an eye. “If you get out of here alive, my friend,” Kahrter said suddenly, clinging to the last gasp of life. “There is something I want you to tell your friends.”
Chabe turned to the wall, wiping tears from his eyes. “What is it?”
“The way to defeat Lugh. You…you must pierce the back of his neck. There...lies his power.” A loud crash followed a second later and everything went silent.
The bear god’s head bent to the floor in a divining position and he bawled a great sea of tears that lasted for well over a minute. Finally, Chabe wiped his eyes and looked up to the ceiling. He now had another thing to fight for beyond saving the world and getting back to his friends: revenge.
Chabe stood up and shifted his feet to attain the perfect position. He gathered up all his remaining strength and pushed forward, straining every muscle in his arms and shoulders in order to break free from his chains. Each of the individual locks on the chains weathered and strained as the god struggled forward.
“Come on!” the bear god growled as the shackles squeezed his wrists.
The metal hinges on the wall bent sharply at a ninety degree angle. One of the supporting bolts quickly shot past Chabe like a bullet and out the cell door. Another bolt followed ten seconds later, landing in the middle of the wall opposite. Finally, the whole hinge flung off the wall past his left thigh and crashed into the prison bars.
“Almost…there!” He grimaced as he took his first step forward to the door. The second hinge broke free, carrying a sizable chunk of the wall with it. It drifted high in the air like a medieval Mace for a short time before smashing the shackle and the cell door to pieces. The resulting impact of the mounds of rock created a gaping hole where the door once stood.
“Not exactly what I planned,” he smiled, catching his breath. “But I’ll take it!”
Chabe looked at the other shackle on his wrist that still remained. He reached over and ripped it off in one thrust. He tossed it next to its broken mate and made his way to the pile of rubble.
The bear god reached the top of the mound when he heard a set of doors opening. It was followed a short time later by the sound of footsteps coming toward him. He didn’t know who the people were, but given the experience with the security guard, it seemed wise to be suspicious about them.
Chabe crouched down on the mound and waited for the small force as they came into view. There was a group of a half dozen people. They were each dressed in the same type of uniform the guard had on. As they fully came into view down the staircase, the smile on his face grew wider. The bear god unfurled his claws, waiting for the moment to strike.