“Yes, my King, I know Leviathan cannot make the Lord tremble. Nor can Leviathan stretch out its matchless arm to bring down the Most High. So I ask you, my God – I beg you! ... Give my arm strength to draw this Dragon's blood! Show this beast that is only of the Earth that it will terrify no more!”
Thor's head was deeply bowed as a single tear fell, and his hand tightened on the ancient battle-ax.
Placing all his life there, in his prayer.
* * *
Chesterton sat against a wall, gray and weary. In the faint red light the colonel's face seemed exhausted to the point of death. He had finished his canteen but it didn't seem to refresh him. He was as pale afterwards as he had been before.
Beth cradled Jordan, stroking back his hair. His tiny face was sweating, and she placed a hand on his forehead. Her eyes were intent, her mouth tight and grim. And, grimacing with compassion, Thor came into the entrance, gazing down, watching.
“He's so tired,” Beth whispered after a moment. “I'm really worried.”
“Has he a fever?” Thor asked quietly.
“No.” She shook her head. “He doesn't have a fever. Not yet. But if this keeps up he's going to get sick. And this is a real bad place to be sick. It’s too humid.”
Her face grew pained and injured.
“This will not last much longer,” Thor said gently.
She looked up. Her silence was wounding.
“You have my promise, Beth,” Thor intoned. “You and Connor and Jordan are family to me. You are the only family that I have on the earth. And with the Lord God Almighty as my witness, I swear that I will not disappoint you.”
Beth blinked. “But nothing can stop that thing, Thor. It's like ... like Satan or something. I don't think that anything can stop it.”
Thor gazed solemnly upon her.
“Even Satan has been stopped,” he said. And then he smiled once more, his bright green eyes gleaming with hope. Beth knew she would be forever grateful for this moment of hope and strength, but she could find nothing to say. Gently she looked down, stroked Jordan's wet hair.
Dragging his steps, Connor came slowly back into the tunnel. He moved with deep, painful exhaustion, and his face seemed even more haggard, dark with sweat. He fell wearily to one knee beside her, smiling faintly. She returned the smile, tears on her face.
Thor rose. “I will keep watch beside the lieutenant. He is a brave man – a strong man. But he is weary. Like all of us.” Then lifting the battle-ax and the M-79, he was gone.
Connor embraced Beth, kissing her lightly on the forehead. As they separated she was gazing up at him with tear-stained eyes. Her voice was so quiet he could hardly hear it.
“We're dying, Connor,” she whispered. “Piece by piece ... we're dying down here.”
Connor's breath caught in his chest. He tried to say something encouraging, heard a low moan escape. He stiffened with an aroused anger and shook his head. “We're not dead yet, Beth.”
“What are you going to do?”
He hesitated, glanced toward the bridge. “We're going to try and knock it into the gorge. And if that doesn't kill it, it'll slow it down. Then we'll make a quick run for the elevator. If we can get to the elevator through the ventilation shaft, I can get the lift down here. Then we're out. That thing is too big to go up the shaft. And Barley thinks we can make it to a Huey and get airborne before Leviathan hits the lake to escape into the ocean.”
“This has got to end, Connor,” she said, looking down. “Jordan can't stay down here much longer.”
“I know.”
She gazed at him a long time. “I just want to say that I love you, Connor,” she whispered. “I always have. I always will. And no matter what happens, I want you to know that I've always believed in you. Nobody could have done more than you've done in this.” She smiled sadly. “In good times and in bad, just like you promised.”
Connor felt an emotion, deep and overcoming. His hand was on her face, touching. And suddenly his pain and fatigue and fear were as nothing. There was nothing else within him, nothing but this. He felt a low moan escape him as he bent.
“Beth, I think I know how to stop this thing,” he said, with a final strength. “I think I know how to put this thing in the ground. And I want you to know that if I don't make it out of here . . . that I did exactly what I wanted to do. And I want you to know I only did it all because of the love I have for you and Jordan.”
Beth's eyes glistened. “What are you going to do?”
“Just remember.”
She bowed her head and they knelt together, in silence. And then Connor kissed her eyes, her forehead. He held her for a long moment before he separated and stood, turning slowly away, walking toward Chesterton.