The Quest of Oblivious
Chapter 1 - Hole in one
Deep within the cliffs of Foill an Priosun in the Comeragh mountain range a deep reverberation emanated. The herd of wild goats who had guarded the mountain all their many lives raised their snouts from the long grass and cast their eyes, the horizontal slash of the pupils glistening in the early morning dawn, deep into the valley. The goats were ancient and wise, descended from the first of all goats, Bezoar. Generations had lived and died on this mountain over the millennia, protected by its mystical powers.
There was a drop in the wind and for a moment no sound except for the rustling of the heather on the high mountain ridges. Then came a whoosh from the cliff top and immediately after deep down in the valley, an explosion from Crotty's Lake. Pike, old shopping trolleys and nearly forty thousand gallons of water exploded upwards. The sured-footed goats are up and over the mountain pass in moments. A second explosion hit the base of Crotty's cave that overlooked the lake.
It was said that the cave was haunted, named after Crotty, a notorious highwayman whose body was hung, drawn and quartered in the eighteenth century. The cave was his hiding and lookout place and after his betrayal and capture, his wife threw herself from a nearby rock to her death on the cliffs below. This gruesome local legend had served the occupants of the cave well and protected its sanctuary for hundreds of years. However, that sanctuary lay shattered as yet another mortar came doodlebugging from the sky - this time a direct hit. The armoured door that was well camouflaged by surrounding rock and moss buckled and several human sized spiders spilled out and rolled into the lake, their flaming bodies hissing as they made contact with the cold water.
The cliffs tops of Foill an Priosun suddenly came alive with hundreds of black clad soldiers abseiling fearlessly over the cliff edge. The zipping sounds of carabiners on nylon was like the swarming of angry bees. Soon the deathly pale, pointy-toothed warriors were pouring into the mouth of the cave and yet more enormous spiders came spilling out. Inside the entrance, the Disciples of Oblivious were fighting tooth to hairy leg with the Guardspider people. The element of surprise was in the Disciples favour and they were soon making their way into the cave's interior. They were well armed and prepared for attack with multiple explosive devices and guns hanging from their belts and straps.
* * *
The Disciples of Oblivious, or Bloodless as they were commonly known, stood at the entrance of the cave door. An infantry leader was in the process of raising two of his hairy legs to give the order to storm the base. 'I'll deal with that' came the cold and decisive voice of Revelent. The Bloodless fell back upon the instruction from their commander. The vast wooden door still smoldered from the last mortar attack, although it was still very much intact.
Revelent was much taller than the others and, although it hardly seemed possible, paler. He was dressed head to toe in a flowing black robe that shrouded his presence and by its very absence made him all the more threatening and malevolent. He reached into his cloak and produced a small octagon-shaped object. A small winged creature rested on his shoulder, his bat, Fang. He placed the device in his mouth and Fang flew straight for the enormous wooden recessed in the cave. Fang dropped the octagon and banked round immediately. Revelent tapped a button that was fixed to his wrist and an incredibly loud explosion rang out, amplified by the enclosed surroundings of the cave.
As the Bloodless coughed and spluttered in the smoke and dust of the cave the muzzle flash of shotgun fire came blazing from the remnants of the wooden door. Krator, a pint sized human with unlimited strength, was reloading his double barrel shotguns.
'Bring it on vampires, I'll pepper you with lead' he roared as he took the shells from his belt and fed them into the cartridge slots of the shotgun. He snapped the barrels back with a flick of his wrists and unleashed on the Bloodless again, felling another four.
'Snipe' called out Revelent who had held his ground, impervious to the explosions and gun fire.
Just then a shot, clean and precise even in its sound, whistled through the air and Krator fell to the ground clutching his leg.
The shot had come from Snipe, who had entered the cave silently and immediately sought out the highest and most discreet ground. Only Revelent could sense his presence and at times even he found it difficult to know where he was.
During all the commotion Fang had managed to fly undetected into the library beyond the door. He flew to the exact spot he had been instructed by Revelent and fetched the dusty old scroll. In its place he left a small octagonal shaped present.
The Bloodless were already retreating from the cave. More Guardspiders were arriving as well as other reinforcements. Krator had been carried clear by some helpful Gnomes.
'Snipe, some exit music please' called Revelent as he strolled casually towards the cave opening.
A hail of rifle fire and explosions cascaded throughout the cave. Revelent emerged from a mist of smoke and light and gently touched his wrist. A huge explosion ripped through the cave. The mountain goats would not be back for some time.
Chapter 2 - Cu Chulainn's lair
'To the east lies Maebh's cairn and here to the west we have what is thought to be the grave of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, a famous Celtic warrior', said the tour guide.
Paddy and Jack nodded in unison. Paddy scratched his chin, in a knowledgeable that was interesting kind of way, but also because it was itchy from several days of stubble. Jack scratched his bum.
The sea breeze whipped off the Atlantic Ocean accompanied by a fine drizzle that covered the peninsula in a thin saturated mist.
There were a couple of Spanish tourists and some South Africans in the group. They were easily identifiable by the flags that they wore on their backpacks. Perhaps there would have been more visitors had the weather been better. Paddy was Jack's father and had thought a trip to the oldest known graveyard in Europe might be an interesting day trip during school holidays.
'Please feel free to take a look around the cairns and if you have any more questions I'll be in the information centre', said the guide as she put up her hood and wrapped her jacket tightly around her rather large frame. It was a cold and wet day and she could have carried on for a bit longer but the thought of the electric heater and a warm cup of hot chocolate indoors was too much of a temptation.
The Spanish and the South Africans obviously felt the same as they took a couple of photographs of the drizzle and headed for their hire cars. It would be fun to have their friends around when they returned home to their respective countries and looked at the many pictures of rain they had taken.
Paddy and Jack were well used to this weather and in the greater scheme of things felt that the weather probably bordered on the soft.
'Let's take a look at Fionn mac Cumhaill's grave', suggested Jack, who had recently heard about him at school. Fionn mac Cumhaill was one of the most famous Irish warriors ever to have lived. He had accidentally eaten the salmon of knowledge as a young man and then later commanded the Fianna, a highly skilled band of warriors, after defeating a fire breathing dragon.
His tomb had been hidden for many years under what was thought to be a pile of rocks. Many had been stolen by locals to build walls but not as many as from other cairns, probably because this cairn was felt to be cursed. It was only later that a Swedish archaeologist came along and felt this site had significance because of its location. He was not bothered by local superstitions and in his efficient Scandinavian manner excavated the enclosed tomb and found it to be a solitary grave. This was highly unusual as most other tombs contained the remains of many bodies. The resting place was obviously of considerable importance.
Paddy was first through the entrance with Jack close behind. In the middle of the cairn was a huge slab of rock mounted on smaller stones. Jack immediately scurried in under the large rock to the space underneath.
'Anything interesting?' asked Paddy.
'Not much', replied Jack as he began running his fingers on the stones inside.
'The stones all feel a bit different' noticed Jack as he proceeded to touch the stones that felt similar in texture. He could sense that there seemed to be an order. He could not put his finger on it but he felt that there was a puzzle that could be solved. After Jack tried a couple of different combinations there came a strange rumbling sound.
'Jack, come out of there, I can feel something rumbling', said Paddy, with more than a little concern in his voice.
Quick as a jack rabbit he was out. No sooner had his heel disappeared from inside the tomb than the stones started to sink into the ground. The large flat rock that was the roof started to slide down into the ground at a forty-five degree angle before straightening up to a right angle with the ground. It paused there for a moment before it fell with a thud to the floor. Then came the sound of the grinding of gears and the hiss of hydraulics. The door slowly flipped over as if on hinges located somewhere in the earth.
Paddy and Jack stared at this unfolding scene in slackjawed amazement. As the door slowly opened like a Hammer Horror Dracula coffin lid they looked at each other, took one step nearer and then looked inside. If Fionn mac Cumhaill himself had been standing there with spear in hand neither of them would have been surprised. Instead what lay there was a staircase. Not a staircase from the time of Fionn mac Cumhaill. More like the time of Star Trek! It was all smooth surfaces and stainless steel.
'Shall we?' said Paddy.
'It would be rude not to', replied Jack. Carefully they descended into the ancient tomb of Fionn mac Cumhaill and as they did the stone slab slowly closed over their heads. There was no going back.
Chapter 3 - The sneezing bat
Lord Oblivious rasped a dry and evil laugh as he held the scroll in his hands.
'Well done', he said gleefully in a rare moment of generosity.
His henchmen stood around him in the beautiful library, Revelent nearest with Fang resting on his shoulder. Snipe skulked in the corner, half hidden and nearest the exit. Atlas rolled his head from side to side, his huge hulking frame dwarfing even the extremely large Thor who stood beside him. Thor, so called because of his affection for his hammer, which he had named Jenny.
'The scroll of Ra' exclaimed Oblivious. 'Ra was the Egyptian Sun god, he commanded the heavens, the earth and the underworld. In here lies the key to unlimited power'.
'Somewhere in here 'said Oblivious gently stroking the scroll and releasing several layers of dust which had settled on its surface into the air, 'lie the keys to infinite power and immortality'.
Fang sneezed and if you've ever heard a bat sneeze you'll know it sounds a bit like a Chihuahua barking. Atlas and Thor's enormous frames shuddered in a vain attempt to keep in the giggles before they erupted into full blown belly laughs.
'Cretins', said Oblivious. 'OUT!' he roared and the laughing quickly died as everyone skulked out of the library and left Oblivious to his own devices.
Luckily the books on the shelves were not for show and soon Oblivious was moving from shelf to shelf gathering the necessary tomes required to translate the secrets of the scroll. It was actually in this very library that Oblivious had discovered the properties of the long lost script. Many of the documents were from the lost library of Alexandria. 0r what was thought to be the lost library of Alexandria. Lord Oblivious' family had descendants who had worked in the time of Julius Caesar and had access to all of the courts secrets. They had managed to smuggle out most of the manuscripts, including original texts of ancient Greek scholars before staging the fire to cover their tracks. Also in the hoard were ancient Egyptian books and even more ancient scrolls that formed the basis of much of Lord Oblivious's power. To say that this library was important to him would have been a gross understatement. His followers knew this as well and to be invited into the library was a great privilege.
Hence, Revelent and Snipe were less than happy to have been thrown out. However, Atlas and Thor were so thick it was hardly worth rebuking them. In fact, they had started giggling again as soon as they were beyond the door. Fang, not exactly proud of the sound of his sneezing was seething with anger and Revelent was restraining him with nearly every ounce of his mental powers.
Lord Oblivious sat at the large oak desk and spread the ancient documents before him. The manuscripts had told him that the scroll of Ra was of great importance but he had had to rely on his own investigative skills to source its location. He should have suspected that King Flame would have had it in his own personal collection. Next to Oblivious, he had the largest collection of ancient and occult texts in the world. To have been able to acquire the text and destroy King Flame's base was an extra pleasure that brought Oblivious enormous satisfaction.
Oblivious thought how wonderful it would be to see King Flame now, his library and headquarters in ruins, his army decimated and to know that Oblivious was responsible. A smile almost passed across Oblivious's face, something more frightening than any scowl he could ever produce.
'Now, let me see', said Oblivious aloud as he picked up a particularly old and dusty book. He turned the opening page and as much as he resisted he could not stop the sensation rising in his nasal cavity.
'Achhooo', he sneezed hard and loud. Atlas and Thor even heard it from down the corridor, which of course launched them into a new round of uproarious laughter.
Chapter 4 - Remembrance of things past
Just as Oblivious had stood in his library, King Flame stood in his - or what remained of it - surrounded by his loyal band of followers. There was Spike, Ajnin and Krator, who had been wounded in the attack. Krator lay on a stretcher, both his legs in casts. Spike and Ajnin had been out on a mission and had missed all the action at the base. They arrived back to find the bodies of Spiderguards people littering the perimeter of the cave. Mingled in with them were some of the Bloodless.
'Oblivious' Spike had instantly surmised when he saw the corpses that had turned a shade of grey. Interesting, he had thought to himself, that the Bloodless should turn from white to grey upon death. I suppose whatever is absent in them while they live returns when they die. The remainder of his thoughts on the matter had been cut short as he entered what was left of the library and found Krator on his back. He had narrowly missed a gunshot to the head - luckily his instinctual reactions had kicked in as the gun cocked and buckshot littered an overturned bookshelf he had managed to dive behind in time.
'Sorry' Krator had said, 'couldn't make you out with all the smoke'.
They were now standing in pretty much the same spot. King Flame was trying to piece together the motives for the attack.
'Certainly, life would be easier for Lord Oblivious with the Army of Flame out of the way', said King Flame, 'but I can't help but think that there is more to this that meets the eye.'
'What I don't understand is that if he meant to wipe out the army then why didn't he just obliterate the place?' questioned Spike.
'He did a pretty good job of it if you ask me', said Ajnin.
'I don't suppose they wanted to face the double barrels of doom', scoffed Krator, miming the action of reloading two pump action shotguns with both arms.
'With all due respect Krator, you were shot', replied Spike.
'Well, at least I was here defending the fort', said Krator angrily.
'That is enough. This is exactly what Oblivious would have us do. Spike is right, they could have finished you off Krator. It also seems that they attacked deliberately when they knew we would be light on defenses with Ajnin, Spike and I all away. There is more to this, I know it,' said King Flame as he paced the ruins of his charred library.
'Krator?' he asked, 'was there anything unusual you can remember?'
'You mean aside from the explosions and the shooting, the general mayhem and carnage you mean?' said Krator.
'Yes', was the clipped answer from King Flame.
'Well, now that you mention it, as I was on the ground having been shot I saw that bat of Revelent's flying into the library. A few moments later he was flying back out carrying something. Then all hell broke loose and there were explosions everywhere', said Krator.
'I knew it, they were after something. Now see if you can concentrate on what exactly he was carrying Krator'. advised King Flame.
Krator closed his eyes for a second then opened them with a start. 'It was a rolled up bit of paper with some wooden knobs on the end',+ said Krator, obviously delighted with his own powers of recollection.
'Excellent. That sounds like a scroll of some sort.' said King Flame as he headed into the still smoldering remains of the main library. 'What scroll would be of value to Oblivious. Let me think. There were only three scrolls in this part of the collection.' King Flame was thinking aloud now. 'And only one that Fang could have reached in that short space of time. It must be the scroll of Ra.'
'But what could Oblivious want with the Scroll of Ra. I acquired that because of its historical significance but Oblivious clearly knows something we don't', surmised King Flame. 'We'll need to get to our secondary base. We should be able to access the digital archive from the mainframe there. I'll be able to figure out what's so special about this scroll.'
'I'll alert the Gnomes that we'll need access to the caverns' said Spike as he strode towards the exit.
'I'll ready the craft'. said Ajnin.
'Excellent, we have no time to loose. We must get to Sligo as quickly as possible', said King Flame.
Chapter 5 - You shouldn't play with fire
Ajnin manned the controls of the Gnome Drillporter, a torpedo like device that could transport up to ten people at a time through the tunnel network that ran throughout the country. Many of the tunnels were naturally occurring. The one that ran from the base within Crotty's Cave was created by magma flow from the extinct volcano that originally formed the mountain. The Gnomes, who were a very secretive race had built and maintained the tunnel network that ran from Youghal in the South to the Giant's Causeway in the North, and from Clifden in the west to Howth in the East, and just about everywhere else in between. They had also perfected the technology required to run manned crafts throughout the network with their own unique propulsion system.
King Flame had previously heard of the Gnomes but of course had dismissed them as myth. That is, of course, until he started construction on his secret base in the dormant volcano in the mountains of Wexford. He had stumbled upon an incredibly elaborate tunnel that could not have been entirely natural. Next thing he knew he was surrounded by dozens of angry and heavily armed Gnomes. Despite their small stature they more than made up for it with their immense and seemingly limitless levels of strength and endurance. Every sinew and muscle in their bodies bulged from the constant physical labour in the tunnels. That and their extremely bad tempers meant that fights were quite frequent. Hence they were extremely good warriors and not to be taken on lightly. Fortunately for King Flame he had read widely on the subject, albeit one that he thought lay in the realms of mythology rather than reality. He praised the immaculate construction of the caves for there is no quicker way to a Gnomes heart than flattery.
Soon he was sitting down with them sipping a home made brew of some considerable potency. It was the start of a beautiful friendship. Initially they had agreed to respect each others privacy but it became apparent to King Flame that the tunnels were an incredibly useful way of moving around the country quickly and covertly. He persuaded the Gnomes to allow him to use the tunnels, to which they agreed on certain conditions. There were certain instances when they needed an emissary for the over ground world as they called it, and that role would fall to King Flame. He could never refuse them no matter what they requested. Once he had agreed to these terms they set about modifying one of their Drillporters, an ingenious device that was able to move with the greatest of ease through the intricate system of tunnels. It worked on an advanced, or perhaps a better word would be ancient, use of magnetism. It also featured a diamond drill at the front in case of any unexpected ceiling collapses or detours. The original Drillporter was too small for King Flame and his colleagues so a slightly bigger cabin was added along with controls more suited for humans.
Ajnin was elected to be trained as the driver. King Flame decided that his highly-tuned ninja skills and reflexes would be best suited to the operation of such a sophisticated vehicle. Ajnin relished the task and while the Gnomes were not the most patient of teachers he was quick to learn and in no time at all had mastered the operation of the Drillporter. It was in that very cockpit that he had learned how to operate the unique underground machine in which Ajnin now sat, going through the pre-launch checks. Once everyone was on board he would gently push out the throttle and in a fraction of the time it took to travel overland they would be at their secondary base under the ancient tomb of Fionn mac Cumhaill.
* * *
Approximately two hundred miles away Paddy and Jack descended the dimly lit stainless steel staircase deeper into the hi-tech lair of King Flame.
'This place is amazing' said Paddy as yet another light came on, triggered by Jack's movement, who was leading the charge.
'Careful Jack, we don't know if it's booby trapped', warned Paddy.
That thought made both of them immediately more conscious of the potential dangers. They moved with slightly more caution in their steps as they progressed down the pristine corridor to the door at the end. When they reached it a small panel to the left suddenly came to life.
'That must be the door lock', said Jack.
'Yes, but what's the code' answered Paddy. Jack shrugged his shoulders.
'We could try guessing', he suggested.
'When was Fionn mac Cumhaill born?' asked Paddy. Jack shrugged his shoulders again.
'We could be here for some time', said Paddy.
* * *
Half an hour later Ajnin expertly guided the Drillporter into the docking bay of the ancillary base located under the cairn of Fionn mac Cumhaill. Spike was already releasing the door lock mechanism and was first out of the craft and onto the docking bay. On the wall by the door was another computer touch screen panel.
'We've been compromised' said Spike as he scrolled through the information on the screen.
'Oblivious?' queried King Flame
'Can't say, it's the overground entrance. It's been sealed again and there seem to be no other signs of damage. Feels like an ambush', said Spike.
'I've lost one base today and I don't intend to lose another,' said Flame. 'Time for some housekeeping.'
With that King Flame strode towards the door. Spike keyed in the code and the hydraulic mechanism kicked into action and the doors gently moved apart. Spike and Ajnin fell in quickly behind King Flame as he marched down the main corridor that led to the central command room.
* * *
The main doors of the control room suddenly sprang apart in front of Paddy and Jack. Spike had entered the override code for access to the entire base in his rush to get the doors open before King Flame walked straight into reinforced steel.
'How did that happen?' asked Jack as they cautiously stepped into the nerve centre of the base.
'I don't know but I really don't think we should touch anything' said Paddy as they looked around at the many monitors, buttons and flashing lights.
'This looks like a command station', guessed Jack.
'You might be right' said Paddy.
Just at that moment the doors at the far side of the control room hissed open. Before Paddy and Jack even had time to react a burst of fire shot from King Flame's palm. They managed to duck just as the fire ball shot past their heads and scorched the wall behind them.
'Cease fire, cease fire', shouted Paddy as King Flame geared up for a second burst.
'We're friendly', said Jack and this seemed to cause Flame to reconsider.
'Who are you?' he demanded.
'We're on holidays' replied Jack 'We found this place by accident. I was in the tomb and I could feel that certain rocks felt differently. I touched them and then the door opened'.
'Hmm, that is interesting' said King Flame as he exchanged a knowing look to his left and right with Spike and Ajnin. 'There are only a handful of people in the world who could have opened that door. Quite amazing that you should choose today to visit.'
'It looks like there's some kind of emergency', observed Jack.
'Indeed there is', said King Flame who was now satisfied that Paddy and Jack posed no threat to the base. 'We were attacked this morning at our primary base. We suffered many causalities and have been forced to repair here to our reserve base. It turns out that Lord Oblivious, our enemy and the mastermind behind the destruction of our headquarters was after the Scroll of Ra. I believe he needs this to unlock the Diamond of Osiris. We have come here to see if we can locate that diamond'.
'The diamond of Osiris', said Paddy. 'Weren't we going to go and see that tomorrow?'
'Yeah', said Jack.
'To see it, where?' asked King Flame.
'It's on tour at the moment and is coming the National Museum in Dublin tomorrow. I've got two tickets to the opening', said Paddy.
'Now that really is good timing', said King Flame.
Chapter 6 - Found in translation
Lord Oblivious unrolled the scroll of Ra to its full length. It was nearly a metre in height once unfurled. The ancient hieroglyphs were still in pristine condition and could be read as clearly as the day they were written. In order to advance the translation Oblivious had scanned the scroll into his digital imaging database. His powerful computer whirred to life as it began matching recognised symbols to make a preliminary translation. A progress bar appeared on the screen, 65% complete. Better than expected, thought Oblivious.
He had envisaged that the scroll might contain many new and previously un-catalogued hieroglyphs which would have made his job much more difficult. He clicked on the program menu and chose the fine tune option. With this function he was able to make some minor adjustments and weed out some of the anomalies. He pointed the cursor on the touch screen and tapped over the 'Run' button. The progress bar popped up on the screen again, this time advancing a little bit further, 75% complete. With this Lord Oblivious had succeeded in decoding the majority of the text. Most of it seemed to be incantations and prayers to the gods. However, the final lines were impervious to the computer's translation. The remaining 25%. The essential 25%. As difficult as expected then, thought Oblivious.
The symbols really didn't seem to correspond to anything Oblivious had ever seen before. He brought up the Rosetta Stone image on his screen and scanned through the symbols. The Rosetta Stone was the basis for all hieroglyphic translation and if the symbol did not appear there it may well be beyond translation. Lord Oblivious could find nothing there that came anywhere close.
He stood up from behind the terminal screens and paced the library. Often he found that walking and talking aloud cleared a problem for him.
'This is an ancient scroll from a secret fraternity', he said out loud to the empty book shelves. 'Either it is a previously unknown and undocumented language or it is some kind of code'. A code can be cracked, he thought. There are clues to a code. Perhaps the symbols from the remaining 25% are just that, symbols that match up to another object or scroll. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar thought Oblivious.
He sat down again at the computer with renewed purpose. He highlighted the remaining symbols and did an image search for the same symbols on all possible Egyptology databases. He hit the 'Run' button again and the progress bar appeared, Searching. The progress bar gradually filled up and just at the point where it was full another dialogue box appeared on screen, 1 match found. Oblivious immediately clicked on the link and up came an identical image of the hieroglyphs on the Scroll of Ra. However, they had been carved into black basalt, which apparently formed the base of a diamond, the Diamond of Osiris.
Another search quickly confirmed that the Diamond of Osiris was due to be in Dublin the next day as part of a traveling exhibition.
'Now that really is good timing', said Lord Oblivious out loud.
Chapter 7 - Switchy switchy
Once King Flame had established that the Diamond of Osiris was due to be exhibited at the National Museum of Ireland a plan formed relatively quickly. Paddy and Jack already had their tickets so it made sense that they should go.
'You'll be the perfect cover. Oblivious doesn't know you and he'll have no idea that you are working for me', said King Flame.
'Er, do you think it's safe?' asked Paddy who was ever so slightly concerned that the school holidays and perfectly innocent visit to a megalithic cemetery was now turning into a international terrorist foiling operation!
'You'll be fine', said Flame. 'If Jack is able to open the hidden entrance then he's still got a few more tricks up his sleeve to discover.
Jack immediately raised his palms and Paddy prayed that it would not be the gift of fireballs that suddenly appeared from them.
'Cool', said Jack as he made various thrusting motions with his palms kung fu style.
'Your talents will show themselves when the time is right, you can't force them', said King Flame affectionately.
'Now, go to Dublin and be on the look out for anything suspicious', he said.
'And what should we do if we do see anything suspicious', asked Jack.
'Good question. Here, take this', and with that Flame handed Jack and Paddy two very small devices no bigger than garden peas.
'Put those in your ears. Don't worry they will shape to fit. With those you'll be able to communicate directly with us. To open a channel just say the word “Flabbergasted” twice,' instructed King Flame.
Paddy and Jack cautiously put the pea sized devices in their ears. As soon as they were lodged they seemed to squirm a little bit and then retract a little bit further down their ear canals. Paddy looked in Jack's ear just as the pea disappeared down into his ear.
'I really don't want to even think about this', he said out loud.
'Perfectly safe', said Ajnin. 'It's Gnome technology.'
'Gnome technology', repeated Paddy. 'I really don't want to know'.
'I can give you a lift to Dublin and explain on the way', said Ajnin.
'You have a car?' asked Jack.
'Not quite', smirked Ajnin.
'To be honest, we do have a car and we should really use it. Thank you for the offer though', interrupted Paddy.
'Awww', said Jack who had been looking forward to hearing all about Gnomes and riding in some sort of amazing transportation craft.
'Maybe another time then', said Ajnin.
'That would probably be best, I have something in mind for Ajnin in any case', said King Flame.
'Well, we better be off if we're going to get to Dublin before it gets dark, very nice to meet you all', said Paddy.
'We'll contact you tomorrow if we notice anything suspicious', said Jack as he held his hand to his ear.
'Should we just....' Paddy started as he pointed towards the door.
'Yes, same way you came in', said Flame and Spike was already at the console entering the override code for complete base access as well as the main entrance.
Paddy and Jack walked back towards the entrance they had come in and the doors opened before them. As had happened when they first entered the lights gradually illuminated as they proceeded down the corridor and snapped off again behind them once they had passed.
Soon they were walking back up the steel staircase and out into the open. The rain had passed and the fine mist that had been covering the whole peninsula for much of the day had now lifted and there even a hint of sunshine coming from way out west in the deep Atlantic.
They stepped back from the entrance and the stone slab slowly folded back into place. They looked out north and could now clearly make out Maebh's cairn atop Knocnarea. They could hear the tour guide explaining its mystical origins and it seemed like there were slightly better numbers now.
'Bet they don't get to see this part of the tour', Paddy said and Jack chuckled.
Chapter 8 - Thor hits the jackpot
Paddy and Jack made it to Dublin in hardly anytime at all. Not as fast as a drillporter obviously but not too bad for an old fashioned internal combustion engine car. They had booked into a Bed and Breakfast near the city centre. The day had been a long and exhausting one so after some food they went straight to bed. Jack was first up the next morning. He shook Paddy awake who was a bit groggy after not having slept brilliantly the night before.
'Tell me it was a dream', he croaked as Jack continued to prod him awake.
'Flabbergasted, Flabbergasted', Jack said in quick succession.
Immediately in Jack's ear came the voice of King Flame, 'I'm patching in your father as I don't want to have to say this twice'.
'Say what twice?' asked Jack.
'It's not a dream', said King Flame and hung up. With that announcement Paddy jumped out of the bed and got dressed without his usual shower. He went to the bathroom and washed his face in cold water several times.
When he felt sufficiently awake he came back to the room and said 'To the National Museum I guess. We can get breakfast on the way'.
Jack of course was already dressed and, with this announcement, already half way out the door.
They were the first people to arrive at the museum.
'You two are eager', the security guard said as they presented their tickets. He told them that the official opening was not till later but they were free to look around if they wanted.
Naturally, they made a beeline for the Diamond of Osiris display. There were lots of boards and information points building up to the diamond but they just wanted to get straight to it and make sure it was still there.
It was the most brilliant gem stone that either of them had ever seen. It was housed in a glass case in the middle of a dimly lit room whose walls were covered in black felt. There were four spotlights in the corner of the room and one directly overhead the display case. They all shone directly at the diamond and made it sparkle all the more brilliantly. The diamond was on a small turn table that rotated ever so slowly and with the lights directly on it cast a display of colour on the walls similar to that of a disco ball.
'That's amazing', said Jack. 'Even if it didn't have special properties it must be worth an awful lot'.
'Definitely', answered Paddy and they both started to look around, noticing small cameras on the ceiling and walls.
'I bet the case is bullet proof and will be connected to the alarm if there's any movement' Jack said.
'You watch too much TV', said Paddy.
'Well, you have to say that it does come in useful', replied Jack.
'I'll give you that', Paddy couldn't help but agree on this occasion.
There was a bench by the far back wall for visitors to sit. Jack and Paddy positioned themselves there, sure that if there was to be an attack it would happen first thing rather than later in the day when the gallery would be much busier and the diamond under greater scrutiny.
They weren't disappointed. After sitting for about ten minutes staring at the diamond there came the sound of a large thudding sound. Then two huge men entered the room, one of them carrying a hammer.
'Flabbergasted, Flabbergasted', Jack said as soon as they came into the room.
'Flame here', came the answer into both their earpieces.
'Two enormous men have just come into the room and one of them is carrying a hammer', said Jack and just as he finished his last word Thor drew up Jenny and in one blow came down on the display case. Although it was undoubtedly fashioned from the most durable and expensive of bullet proof and bomb proof compounds it was no match for Thor's hammer. A huge crack appeared down the side of the case. He hit it once more and this time it shattered completely, sending pieces of glass flying around the room.
The alarm had been triggered on the first blow and now there were guards entering the chamber. The other massive man threw them to one side and both of them marched out of the room with diamond in hand.
'They've just walked out with the diamond of Osiris. Should we follow them,' said Jack.
'No, but don't hang around too long as the police might get curious', instructed Flame.
Paddy sighed in relief.
'But they have the diamond', said Jack.
'Don't worry, it's all going according to plan', said King Flame and with that the line went dead.
'Better get out of here then, it's going to get pretty busy soon and I'm not sure I understand what just happened', said Paddy as he and Jack made from the exit.
As they left the building Jack could have sworn he saw a familiar black shape out of the corner of his eye.
'What?' said Paddy, noticing Jack's glance.
'Nothing, thought I saw someone', replied Jack, shaking his head.
'Let's go find something to eat, I'm starving', said Paddy.
Chapter 9 - The world falls down on Atlas
Thor and Atlas had encountered some minor problems with the local constabulary but nothing that Jenny or a bit of stomping on heads could not resolve. It would probably take Dublin some time to recover and those that witnessed the general acts of carnage and mayhem would probably relegate what they saw to the 'unidentified' compartments of their memories.
Luckily for Thor and Atlas, and Dublin as well no doubt, Oblivious had arranged an escape route along the Liffey. As soon as they made it to the riverbank they jumped straight in and were able to make it to a rendezvous point where there was carefully concealed sub aqua gear as well as an underwater dive craft. Thor and Atlas were not the most graceful of swimmers, especially Thor who kept sinking to the bottom with the weight of Jenny, but they were fast, especially once they figured out how to start the dive craft which propelled them along like a mini torpedo.
When they arrived back to Oblivious they marched straight to the library dripping water all over the carpets.
'You better have good news or I'll have to kill you for destroying my Persian rug', greeted Oblivious as he toyed with the handle of the cutlass that hung from belt.
Atlas held out the diamond that he had been safely carrying in his giant pocket.
'We did good boss', he said.
'Very good indeed', said Oblivious as he delicately took the diamond in both hands.
It was certainly large enough he thought, but lighter than expected.
Already Oblivious had cleared the table and made the preparations for the invocation to release the powers from the diamond of Osiris. The Scroll of Ra had been place on a music stand so that it could be read with ease. Oblivious placed the diamond on the table and stood behind the scroll to read the spell. He held out both arms and shut his eyes. He had read and reread the scroll many times now and pretty much had the incantation by heart. He began, hitting each syllable deliberately and with great energy. But nothing happened. He repeated the procedure but again nothing happened.
Thor and Atlas who had not been excused and were mildly curious as to what would happen should Oblivious unleash the power of the diamond, looked at each other in confusion.
'This is most strange', said Oblivious as he picked up the diamond. 'I wonder', he said and he took out his cutlass from the scabbard that hung at his side. In it handle sparkled many jewels, rubies, sapphires and diamonds. Oblivious ran the handle against the diamond of Osiris.
'Damn', he shouted. He held up the Diamond of Osiris, which had been clearly scored by the diamonds on his cutlass handle.
'This is a fake', he roared as he flung the diamond to the ground where it bounced dully and slid under a bookcase. With his other hand still firmly on the handle of his cutlass he raised the sword and jerked his entire arm to unleash a bolt of lighting which traveled across the room and hit Atlas squarely in the chest. Atlas flew back with the force of the bolt and crashed against the back wall. The sounding of the thud was deafening as Atlas' mighty but now most definitely smoldering and dead bulk fell to the floor.
Lord Oblivious turned his cutlass to Thor, he paused for a moment and then shouted, 'That was for the rug, now get out before I lose my good mood'.
It had been foolish to kill Atlas but Oblivious could not tolerate failure and this was one time too many for the strongman.
Flame, thought Oblivious, I should have killed him when I had the chance.
Chapter 10 - Hunting season begins
Paddy and Jack were due to return home that day but instead took in a detour to the ancient grave of Fionn mac Cumhaill. As they paid in the man behind the counter looked at them curiously.
'We're you two not here the other day?' he asked
'Indeed we were,' replied Paddy. 'It's such an amazing place, can't get enough of it'.
'Well, that's great to hear, we don't get too many return visitors within the same week', he said, not quiet sure whether to believe Paddy or not.
'I'm doing a project on stone age graveyards so we might need to come back a few more times', said Jack, thinking quickly on his feet.
'That will be a very interesting project and, if that's the case there's no need to pay as we certainly wouldn't want to discourage learning', said the man as he handed over two complimentary entrance tickets.
'Thanks', said Jack as he took the tickets.
'Yes, thanks' repeated Paddy who had stood silent and impressed at Jack's ingenuity.
Once in the tomb Jack knew instantly what to do and they were inside the base in no time at all, moving quickly down the corridor to the nerve centre. Inside King Flame was speaking with Ajnin.
'We came as fast as we could', started Jack. 'The two big guys we told you about got the diamond'.
'There really was nothing we could have done', continued Paddy. He wasn't sure why they felt so guilty and responsible for the loss of the diamond. A couple of days ago it had merely been an interesting artefact to see in a museum.
'Please, don't worry', said King Flame. 'Without your help we would not have even known where to find the diamond.'
'But Lord Oblivious has it now, isn't he going to use it to become even more powerful' asked Jack. 'Shouldn't we be doing something?'
'You are very brave young Jack and we will do something very shortly. Luckily, thanks to the skills of Ajnin we are in no immediate danger'.
This cue suddenly triggered something in Jack's memory, 'you were there weren't you?'.
'Yes', replied Ajnin. 'But how did you know, my powers of stealth make me practically invisible to he human eye'.
'Perhaps to the normal human eye, Ajnin, but our friend Jack here is not the common garden variety human. Well spotted Jack. This was the reason I wanted you to go, to see if your powers could detect Ajnin. As you noted, he was there and just in the nick of time to switch the diamond' said King Flame as he produced the Diamond of Osiris from under his cloak.
'That's a relief', said Paddy out loud. He had been growing increasingly nervous since the theft of the diamond that an evil Lord Oblivious with unlimited power would most probably be a bad thing for the world.
'We have the real diamond and we will keep it here for safe keeping until we can destroy the scroll of Ra' said King Flame.
'But Lord Oblivious has the Scroll of Ra. How will you find him?' inquired Jack.
'The beauty of the plan is that the fake diamond is also a tracking device. Ajnin, if you could locate the base we shall prepare our assault' said Flame. Ajnin turned behind him to the bank of computers and with great ease and finesse he hit a series of consoles and buttons in order. A blinking red dot appeared on a monitor overhead.
'Ajnin, call up the troops and ready the drill porter, we've got some payback to deliver', said King Flame. He could not help but smile a little.
Chapter 11 - Gnome place like gnome
Thor had never really been frightened before but having seen Lord Oblivious kill his only friend in front of him had kindled some foreign emotions. Never having experience such feelings before he could not identify them, but to anyone else it could simply have been described as sadness. So when Lord Oblivious summoned him to the library again to give him new instructions he did not want to point out the flashing light coming from underneath one of the bookcases.
* * *
Ajnin manipulated the drillporter with the finesse of a seasoned maestro, making minute and almost imperceptible adjustments that allowed the craft to move silently along the subterranean tracks. Jack and Paddy sat directly behind him, Jack enjoying every minute, Paddy wincing at each turn as Ajnin headed straight for sheer rock face and then slipped away and around corners with the slightest of margins.
King Flame held the tracking device in his hands. It had all the appearances of an ancient stone tablet but nothing could have been further from the truth as contained within the granite was the latest in touch screen technology. Flame was using the tracking beacon in the fake diamond to pinpoint Lord Oblivious's lair, while also navigating the best route through the Gnomes network of tunnels. The three dimensional modeling and graphics were well beyond the latest technology available above ground. King Flame noticed Jack's interest, 'I bet you'd like one of these chips in your Play Station 3?!'.
'If the gnomes released their own console they would have the whole games market in the morning', said Jack.
'What makes you think that they don't already' said Flame.
'You mean...' started Jack.
'I mean', interrupted Flame, 'that all this costs money and sometimes we have to release selective bits of technology to fund our operation'.
'So if you need to rebuild your base – does that mean that the Play Station 4 is going to be even better?'
'Now that would be telling' said King Flame with more than a smirk on his face. 'Now, if you'll excuse me I must give Ajnin some directions. 'At the Kiltimagh Junction you'll want to head for the Lough Corrib exit, we'll take the Galway Bay route – that should be the quickest'.
'Roger that' replied Ajnin with unusual loquaciousness. He was in a good mood at the prospect of dishing out some revenge.
Krator, who had been engrossed in oiling his shotgun and filling it with buckshot, perked up when he heard the instructions.
Spike had also been busy on his console, communicating with other squadron leaders from around the country. 'I'll radio in the coordinates to the reinforcements. Do you have a final position for our attack?' he enquired.
'I do' said King Flame. 'Have the troops meet us at the entrance to the Aillwee caves'.
* * *
At the same moment, deep within the Aillwee caves themselves Lord Oblivious was searching for a means to track King Flame. He had instructed Thor and Revelent to lean on every spy and source that they had in order to locate King Flame's new base. He was sure he would have a backup station as it would be unlike Flame not to plan for every eventuality. But there was something that did not feel right. He couldn't put his finger on it but at the same time he couldn't shake the feeling that the pendulum was swinging back in his direction.
Chapter 12 - Krator makes a crater
The Aillwee caves had once been ancient river and so was naturally already part of the Gnomes web of tunnels. Lord Oblivious was aware of this but even with his power was unwilling to tackle the Gnomes head on. What he did not know however, was King Flame's incredibly advantageous deal with the Gnomes. If he did he would have destroyed the landing platform at the very least. It was somewhat derelict as it not been used in some time - Lord Oblivious not really being one for callers. Even so, King Flame, Ajnin, Spike, Krator, Jack and Paddy were all able to alight with ease.
King Flame turned to Jack and Paddy once they had cleared the platform and were walking through the cave structure.
'Just up ahead there is a viewing area. I want you to remain there and radio through what you see. This will be an essential part of our attack and once further inside the caves, the spaces become confined and difficult to see. We need informed vantage points. Do you think you can do that?' he asked.
'Absolutely', replied Jack.
'I'm counting on your powers of perception Jack', said King Flame and with that the remaining party walked deeper into the caves, the glow of their flashlight gradually fading.
Spike had sent the coordinates on their approach and nearly all the support troops had massed outside the entrance to the caves. Luckily it was a feast day and all public attractions were closed, including the caves, so there were no tourists or visitors about.
'King Flame, give the word and I will inform the squadron leaders', said Spike.
'Very good. According to the tracking device Lord Oblivious's chamber should be just through the next series of bends. Instruct the leaders to take up advance positions inside the cave' said Flame.
'I'll go ahead and clear the way if you don't mind', said Krator as he moved to point position. He was moving swiftly to the entrance and pumped the load action of his shotgun for good measure. It gave a reassuring click as the cartridges were loaded into the chamber.
As they rounded the final bend Krator spotted the faint outline of a door. 'Here I take it?' he asked.
'Yes, just behind..' started King Flame as Krator blew the hinges off the door. Spike took that as the cue to call in the reinforcements and commence the attack.
The door fell away with a thud, immediately alerting Lord Oblivious. An attack he thought, but how? He had no time to dwell on such things. He must make a swift escape. There was a pod located on the upper storey of the complex that ejected into a nearby lake. He made his way to his personal elevator within the library. Just as the ping sounded to announce the lift's arrival the main door exploded inwards and King Flame stood in the smoldering door frame.
'Going somewhere?' he said to Oblivious.
'After I finish with you', he replied.
Flame shot a jet of fire straight at Oblivious who managed to duck in time and unleash a bolt of lighting, which hit the wall immediately to the left of the King. Flame moved further into the room and began torching the bookcases. It pained him to destroy any learning but nothing of Oblivious' could survive. Lord Oblivious fired out lightning bolts left and right with no real direction, his cutlass waving about wildly in the air. One of his shots rebounded and it wasn't until he heard the creaking that he turned to see a burning bookcase fall on him. By now the library was engulfed in fire. Shouts and shots could be heard throughout the base as the attack was fully under way. King Flame covered his face with his hand from the heat in the room and backed out. He met Spike who been involved in a long battle with Revelent but lost him somewhere in the caves.
'There are hundreds of tunnels and secret caverns. I suggest we moved out and detonate a remote charge.' said Spike.
'Agreed, let's move out', said King Flame. 'I don't think there is much more to be achieved here now.'
Chapter 13 - This is the end my friend
Jack and Paddy had watched the battle unfold from their vantage point above the main cave. At first they could only hear garbled screams and the odd rifle shot. However, as the battle progressed more and more soldiers spilled out. They had seen Thor captured by Ajnin and Krator. They recognised him from the museum robbery. He had been clearing a path through the Guardspider people whom he had brushed aside very easily with his hammer. Krator had stood fearlessly in front of him firing barrel-loads of buckshot while Ajnin aimed throwing stars at his knees. Eventually Thor had stumbled and once he was on the ground the Guardspider people had quickly spun hundreds of very fine but incredibly strong webs around him. Even with all his strength his was unable to budge underneath the constraints.
Jack heard the order to move out in his ear. It was Spike's voice saying that they were to move to more secure positions outside. To take any prisoners with them and they would blow the caves remotely.
'Let's go', said Paddy, who had heard the same order.
'We should wait until the last person leaves, we don't want to miss anyone', pleaded Jack.
'We'll wait two more minutes and then we go', conceded Paddy.
The exit from the cave was swift and efficient. The Guardspider people bound up the prisoners and carried them on their backs to the exit. It took nearly twenty Spiderspeople to move Thor alone. King Flame and Spike were the last to leave. Spike busy placing the charges. He was an expert in explosives and knew just where to place the mines in order to cause the precise amount of destruction required to seal off Lord Oblivious's base.
As soon as they left Paddy turned to Jack and pulled his sleeve, 'that's it, we're out of here too'.
'Okay', said Jack, who still wanted to man his post. As he got up to leave he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. It was a blur, but definitely something moving down near the caves.
'There was something there', he said.
'Well, whatever it is it's not going to last long as they're about to blow the cave.
'Looked like a bat', said Jack.
'Bats do live in caves, shouldn't be that unusual', said Paddy.
'I know, but there was something different about that one', replied Jack.
'Let's go, no more discussing', said Paddy, and he grabbed Jack firmly by the arm and they both ran as quickly as they could to catch up with King Flame and Spike.
When they did catch up Jack told Flame about what he thought he had seen.
'We need to make sure the Lord Oblivious and his cult do not survive. Let's finish this once and for all', he instructed Spike.
'Ten more metres and we should be safe enough to detonate', said Spike. 'I'll arm the charges.'
With that Spike began tapping instructions into the tablet he was carrying under his arm.
'Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Fire in the hole.' Spike hit the console with two sharp strokes. There was a definite stillness and then the sound of popping and the even greater sound of violent explosions. The cave shook and some stalactites that had been hanging from the ceiling of the cave for centuries gave way and crashed to the floor.