The 9th Fortress

you ever laid eyes on the Leviathan? Are the stories about it true?'

Eddinray's food became briefly caught in his throat. 'The Leviathan,' he coughed and swallowed; 'is very real, Danny boy. I have seen it swarming like bees in the distance, a gathering haze. Now other eyes may claim this to be a bad spot of weather, a brooding storm on the horizon perhaps, but I say it is the Leviathan! It is the sole reason I travel by raft, a craft larger would create the waves to attract the creature. The abomination is drawn to motion, you see, motion of any sort.'

'So you move slowly?'

'I am the snail,' he returned. 'Unfortunately this ocean was wider than anticipated, and my supplies…'

I stopped the knight in his tracks, glancing understandably at the strips of bark he once tore from his raft.

'Are you married, Eddinray? Have you ever been in love?'

On asking, I witnessed a suspicious twitch at Kat's ear.

'I have never been married,' replied Eddinnray. 'And have only ever loved my queen.'

'Who you can't remember?'

'Regrettably…'

'But have you ever loved a real woman?' I said, frustrated. 'I mean, a normal girl?'

Condescendingly, Eddinray shook his head. 'My dear, dear fellow — how can a real woman, a normal girl ever compete with the natural beauty and glorious grace of a queen?'

I continued eating, feeling somewhat sorry for Eddinray. The man had never experienced real love in his lifetime, never lost himself in its wild highs and dreadful lows. I fell in love once, not with a queen I couldn't remember, but with a flesh and blood woman who became my wife. The marriage was short lived — three years tops — but I was undoubtedly wiser for the experience.

When Eddinray quizzed Kat on the subject of love and marriage, I could almost hear the samurai's system slam shut — no-one home — so I answered for him. 'That katana, Eddinray, she's all the woman Kat needs.'

The knight nodded respectfully. 'As a warrior I can understand the ninjas devotion. I salute you Kat! I do I salute you!' Eddinray swallowed down more fish then burped. 'One thing — one thing intrigues me gents. That is, how did you ever come together? Fox and Kat — hardly a likely friendship is it?'

Eddinray looked to me for an answer, and I was happy to give an honest one. 'I was told by a timeless witch that Kat and I are a union of convenience, not friendship. Who am I to argue?'

'Timeless witch?' the knight frowned. 'Union? By God for what purpose man?'

'Kat is escorting me to Hell, Eddinray. He's been there before.'

'Love it!' Eddinray tittered. 'Love a man with a sense of humor! Any-more fish?”

***

A sticky morning. We'd been flying high and straight for well over an hour. Strong winds did little to repel the heat, and I grew concerned to notice that Atlas was already worn out. Her wings flapped laboriously under the weight of three armed men, and her body subsequently lost altitude at an increasing rate. There was hope on the horizon however, a thin crust of land, and I whispered encouraging words into the Weather-Maker's ear, hoping she had enough in the tank to get us there.

Kat remained tucked behind my shield with the knight pressed like a sardine behind him. Eddinray kept the flight interesting with more hot-aired tales of chivalrous quests for God, queen and country.

'Over there Danny boy!' he yelled, pointing to my left side. 'Do you see it man?'

I was surprised how this escaped my notice for so long. Eddinray directed his finger to a distant blotch where the water appeared to become two distinct kinds of ocean — one bubbling black and tar like, the other blue and calm as ever. 'That's the boiling sea!' he told me. 'The fires of Hell cook the water from below! Legend has it a giant snake swims from those depths to feed on forsaken sailors here! It swallows them whole then returns to the underworld with a digesting bellyful of ships and men!'

'Have you ever seen this snake?' I yelled over the wind.

'If there is such a thing Danny boy, then I haven't seen it! Perhaps it was afraid of me?'

Kat's dislike for Eddinray seemed to be escalating, the samurai growling with contempt whenever the obnoxious knight addressed him. 'Have you ever jousted before ninja? Have you ever stared another man and his stallion down before charging with all your might for a fair maiden's favour? Have you ever had your head locked in the jaws of a tiger? I call your attention to the dimples in my helmet!'

'I am samurai!' Kat screamed over his shoulder. 'And you are spitting on my neck!'

'Good for you!' he replied. 'Much prefer samurai to ninja. I fought one ninja in the Mucklanton vulch pits, hand-to-hand combat, fight to the fiercest death! And a nasty, cheating rogue he was too! However, I would sooner fight a ninja than a dinosaur! Take a previous adventure of mine for example; I encountered an odd sort of Dino- woman, flesh eater of course! Have you ever killed a man, Kat? I must say you do not look the sort. Son of a farmer are you? Steal a dead man's armor did you? Shameful behaviour, truly shameful!'

As Eddinray rambled on, I received a sudden chill. I had blinked and missed an alarming drop in the horse's height, continuing at a steady decline until Atlas' hoofs unnervingly ran over water, leaving a trail of spray a mile back. Daylight was dying too, and the temperature inexplicably plummeted. At Atlas' galloping hoofs, shimmering blues were being devoured by an overwhelming darkness from behind, an object growing and gaining on us.

Noticing that consuming shade now, Eddinray peered back, and his jolly prattle came to an abrupt end.

'Danny?' he whimpered. 'It might be a wise idea if you asked your pet to Giddy bloody up!'

I stole a look back and sight of the thing near knocked me from the saddle. I gripped the reins, kicked my heels and roared Atlas into action. She responded instantly — galloping, flying from the mammoth wave, a living tsunami: The Leviathan. Reptilian in outline, it grew out of the water — itself of the water — opened a cavernous mouth and flapped two gargantuan arms back and forth to catch our swift horse. 'Ya!' I exclaimed. 'Ya! Ya!'

'Faster!' cried Eddinray. 'Faster man! Faster!'

The knight squinted over his shoulder to see the same sort of fish he ate for supper skittering inside this creature's washy stomach. Desperately panting, Atlas flapped her wings and powered her hoofs, but her pace was gone. 'Up girl!' I begged, as her legs submerged in the salt water. 'Up!'

The monster spewed a great hose at us, soaking our backs and the horse's already sopping wings.

'She's sinking!' I bellowed, out of ideas. 'Come on girl! Please!'

Closest to the Leviathan, a bold Eddinray removed his long sword and began lashing at the indestructible thing. 'Back Devil! Back I say!'

He beat and slashed at the wet throat and face, but his blade passed through, causing no damage whatsoever. Kat meanwhile, grimaced to a suction of sea below, contemplating a sacrificing leap to ease the horse's burden. 'Don't even think about it!' I screamed over the crashing spray. 'I need you! '

Kat shook a doubtful face, and I stretched further into Atlas' ear. 'Give us more girl! Nose up! All you can! More! More!'

She tried and tried, but in vain. Her snout collapsed from exhaustion, leaving me no choice but to prop up her neck. 'Come on!' Both my hands reached lower to fumble inside her compact satchel; and as our wet world closed in, something found my hand in that bag. I saw it and others glowing gold inside the satchel, and turned aghast back to Kat.

'What is it?' he asked.

'Weather-Makers, Kat! Weather-Makers!'

The Leviathan descended until only its heady outline bobbled out from the sea. It opened its lips and took us all inside its mouth now. The thickest rain showered down on top of us, and the Leviathan's water-based tongue tasted the bottom of Atlas, savouring this unique snack. The monster then closed its lips, taking the last of the light and us with it. 'Hold your breaths!' I cried. 'Get ready for it!'

I removed the astonishing form from the satchel. In my grip was a single bolt of buzzing lightning, which did not scorch my eyes or burn the flesh from my bare hand. It lit the Leviathan's mouth up with a yellow heat so fierce that Kat and Eddinray covered their faces. Drenched, I raised the blazing bolt over my head and horse, and squinted further down the monster's throat at all the fish, the weeds and the sands of the sea. 'Don't forget your appetiser!' I roared, throwing the jagged