Spires of Infinity (57 page)

Authors: Eric Allen

BOOK: Spires of Infinity

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“Cat sure is full of himself,” Jonathan muttered just loud enough to be heard.

“Aren’t they all,” Michael replied.

Mister Mittens seemed to wilt a bit, but then appeared to decide he was better off ignoring much of what the twins said.

Gabriel removed one of his gunbelts, the one with the holster on the left side, and handed it to Sam. “I think this belongs to you, my dear.”

“Why thank you, oh husband to be,” Sam said as she buckled it on and tied the

rawhide cord around her thigh to hold it in place.

“I can’t wait,” Allie said with a big grin. “I’ve been trapped in this place for so long, all I ever wanted to do was run free and live my life.”

“I think this is the beginning of a great adventure,” Gabriel said, grinning broadly.

He’d never considered that he’d be traveling the universe just like his childhood hero, or that he’d have a companion to share it all with. Life was good. He could make a new life for himself, stepping out into the unknown. He realized that he had no desire whatsoever to return to his old life back on Earth. The path before him was far too interesting, and he still had a long way to go in order to atone for the sins of his stupidity and arrogance. At least he had friends and a girl that he loved to help him along the way. He supposed that for all the confusion and frustration that came with women and their seeming insanity, he’d finally found one he loved enough that none of it mattered much in the end.

“What do you think we’ll find in this new world,” Sam asked, looking up into his face.

“We’ll never know until we go and see for ourselves,” Gabriel grinned.

“I never thought I’d say this to anyone, Gabriel, but I love you.”

“And I love you too.”

Gabriel bent to kiss her one more time before they started finding their way out of the jungle.

Epilogue

In the Citadel of Perdition, most perfect prison ever built, the champions of

heaven and hell sat down to a game of chess. One, a tall, powerfully built man with waist length black hair gathered at the nape of his neck by a frayed length of red cloth. The other, a shirtless monstrosity whose skin seemed coated with black oil darker than the deepest pitch that surged and seethed around his brilliantly white smile. The stakes of their game was all of creation, past, present and future, even the afterlife.

Their game was a friendly game between bitter enemies, between jailer and

prisoner. They used the more relaxed rules that children often played by, rather than the strict ones that adults used. Chess was more fun that way. You still got all the maneuvering and strategy, without all of the stiffness and stricture.

The Northern Sage, God’s Avatar in an eternal struggle of good versus evil,

played the game with Cain, Satan’s Avatar, once a week. As Cain’s jailer, the Sage was responsible for seeing to his enemy’s needs, and that included entertainment every so often. They had played a million times a million games of chess, and the Sage had never won a single match, despite his ability to see any and all possible futures.

Long ago the Sage had been a warrior with brute strength enough to topple any

foe that came against him. With the loss of his freedom he’d had to learn how to fight in other ways. Many, many long years of struggle against Cain had taught him the subtleties of strategy needed to survive the bigger, much more deadly game the two of them played against each other, but he had still yet to beat Cain at chess.

“My pawn has neutralized yours,” the Sage commented. He was
not
talking about chess.

“So he has,” Cain replied passively. “There are always more pawns to be had.”

“So there are,” the Sage agreed.

“You can’t keep me locked in here forever. Sooner or later, I will have to be set free. You know the prophecy as well as I do.”

“Of course, I was there when it was made, the final words of my predecessor.”

“The Beast shall be set free for the last battle, and then will come the end of days.

You can’t keep me here forever, my old nemesis. No, sooner or later I will be freed, and when that happens, everything ends.”

“I am aware that you will someday break free—“

“
Set
free,” Cain interrupted. “I will be
set
free. I have no need to escape. All I need is patience, and if there is one thing I have learned in my eternal life, it is patience.”

“There is still work to be done, Cain. I am aware that one day you will be
set
free
, but that day will be as far into the future as I can manage.”

“We shall see.”

“So we shall.”

“We have played this game since what many people these days would call the

beginning of time,” Cain said as the Sage took one of his rooks with a bishop. “I can’t even count how many times we’ve played. And you have never won a single time. How much longer are you going to insist on this foolishness.”

“I would have thought someone in your position would be grateful for the

company. Besides, I play the game better than you give me credit for.”

“You might,” Cain nodded as he took the bishop with his knight, a calculated

sacrifice on the Sage’s part, “but I play better.”

“Not well enough to win today I’m afraid, my old friend,” the Sage said as he

moved his knight. “You’re in check.”

“You’re not my friend! You’re my jailer, and enemy. I will dance with joy the day I cut your still beating heart out of your chest and hand it to that pretty little wife of yours.”

“No need to be nasty. I don’t
have
to come here for our games, you know. I could just leave you to rot. You certainly do deserve it.”

Cain ignored him and picked up his last pawn from the game board, holding it up to the light as if appraising a gemstone.

“You can’t move that pawn. You’re in check.”

“Am I now,” Cain asked with a devious grin. “Do you know how it is that I so

consistently defeat a man who can see any and all possible futures? It’s simple really.

All I have to do is choose the absolute least probable outcome and work toward it. In the rules we play by, if you manage to get a pawn to the other side of the board, she becomes a queen.”

He tossed the pawn aside and snatched up his queen from the Sage’s pile of

captured pieces, slamming it down right in line with the opposing king.

“And I’m afraid that’s checkmate, my
friend.
Now get out of here and leave me be. I’ll see you next week, if you haven’t had enough yet.”

The Northern Sage stared at the queen on the board. He had a very bad feeling that Cain had not been talking about chess when he spoke of a pawn becoming a queen.

“What are you planning,” he demanded.

Giving him a devious grin, Cain threw back his head and laughed.

“Oh nothing,” he replied. “Just killing time.”

The End

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: A Second Chance

Chapter 2: The Apostle is Born

Chapter 3: Leaving Home

Chapter 4: Holston

Chapter 6: Old Gods

Chapter 7: The World Tower