.
. Raiders of the Forbidden Valley
Chapter 19: Twilight of the Gods

An original story by Hannibal King, told in serial form

The mighty wolf padded across the ether, free from his bonds after countless years of pain and agony he searched hungrily for revenge.

Susan looked in astonishment to the space where Indy had been standing. He had simply vanished into the light.

"Indy?" she asked quietly

But there was no reply.

The wolf Fenris howled its displeasure. It was hungry and needed sustenance.

The Pacific Ocean, 147 miles off the south coast of Hawaii

The USS Broadsword glided smoothly through the relatively calm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Captain Rob Anderson stood on bridge and watched the clear blue skies. He was a happy man - the sea had been his life and on days like this he felt as close to God as anyone could possibly get.

His ship had seen heavy action during the war and been involved in many actions against Japanese vessels. However Anderson had managed to get his ship and his crew through these with the minimum of fuss and bother.

The sea was calm and the sky was blue.

Nothing could spoil his day.

"Sir, we're getting some funny readings from the . . ." his navigator said. It was the last thing that Anderson heard before his beloved ship was sucked under the sea by a massive air bubble that had seemed to come from nowhere.

The USS Broadsword was never seen again and was reported lost with all hands five days later.

Fenris padded menacingly through the shades between night and day. Around the world, children woke up from nightmares that they couldn't remember.

In it's primitive mind Fenris could only think of one thing.

The tree Ygdrassil!

Marcus and Grey Wolf had been riding into the hills above Innsmouth for three hours. The ride was hard going. Marcus, not an expert horseman at the best of times was feeling tired and sore. Grey Wolf rode ahead.

It was imperative that they found the cave.

Fenris' breath touched the world.

Siberia

Vladimr Pyotriovitch had been working in the USSR's premier top secret testing facility for nuclear isotopes since the war had finished and the Russians had spirited away a number of Nazi scientists and taken them to gulags all across the northern reaches of the USSR.

It was largely due to this that the Soviets had managed to get a fledgling atomic arsenal behind them.

The Americans had shown one thing with Hiroshima and Nagasaki - any world power had to move on.

Pyotriovich was a loyal Russian and had fought against the Nazis all along the Eastern Front. True, he did feel uncomfortable working with these horrific weapons, but he did not question the ethos of building them.

However, two of the main laboratories had inexplicably caught fire twenty minutes ago. Thirteen men had died in the blaze so far and each one of the research facility's staff members was busily combating the conflagration.

If the fire spread then the entire base would blow up - causing massive firestorms in the immediate area.

Pyotriovitch was a scared man.

Unbeknownst to him, however, there were research bases all over Russia and in the United States that were having the same problems.

Fenris galloped onwards towards his final destination.

Qwam Sung Ho sat in his sledge. He looked at the horizon, full of anticipation. The wall of light was becoming agitated and flaring violently.

Beyond that vale of light he would find the great tree of life. Beside that would be the spring of eternal water. The tree would provide leaves that would rejuvenate and keep him alive for thousands of years.

Qwam Sung Ho would be as a god!

In the distance he could see a small figure silhouetted against the lights.

Fenris moved onwards, relentlessly seeking out it's prey.

Marcus and Grey Wolf stood beside the entrance to an old mine. It had lain empty for years by the look of things, but Marcus knew that this was where Hume had found the shrine.

In his journal, Hume recorded historical tales of this mine. How it had been abandoned because of Tommyknockers. The miners had claimed to see ghosts, demons and monsters and they abandoned the workings. Hume had found out that the workings had breached the wall of an old cave where the Vikings had hidden the idol and the runes centuries before hand.

They looked nervously at the entrance.

"Ah well old boy, nothing ventured nothing gained!" Marcus looked at Grey Wolf.

The men paused and then entered the darkness.

Mighty haunches propelled the wolf through the shades between life and death.

Susan watched the wall of light numbly. Indy had just vanished in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly a plume of snow exploded at her feet. She looked over her shoulder and saw a number of dog sleds rushing forward.

A man on the back of the lead sled was firing shots at her.

Susan turned and ran towards the wall of light.

Razor sharp fangs were bared in anticipation of the kill!

Malaysia

Floods came from nowhere and swept through village after village

Scotland

The highlands of Scotland suffered a series of severe landslides. A number of crofts were destroyed in the disaster.

North West Australia

A huge herd of sheep just fell over and died. The shepherd saw this happen and could not explain how the animals came to be torn and mutilated.

Throughout the world things were happening. An earthquake in Japan, sandstorms in Morocco, avalanches in the Alps. Each disaster starting without warning. Each disaster was getting progressively worse.

The wolf galloped forth.

Susan dived forward as a volley of shots ripped the ground beneath her feet.

Her stomach started churning as she felt herself become enveloped in light. Her world was turned inside out and upside down.

Susan tried to scream, but her words and breath was lost in the kaleidoscope of colours.

A gut wrenching howl echoed through her head.

Suddenly everything went dark.


Susan awoke to find herself in a mammoth cavern unlike anything she had ever seen before.

Indy stood looking at her with a rueful smile on his face.

Behind him, towering up to the roof of the cave was a gigantic ash tree.

"Glad you could make it," Indy helped her to her feet.

"Indy, where are we?" she asked, but before he could answer a bestial howl echoed around the cavern.

"The end of the world sweetheart. We're at the end of the world." Indy smiled grimly.

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Indyfan.com Site Author: Micah Johnson
Page Author: Hannibal King
Created: Sept. 20, 1999
Last modified: October 4, 1999