Read Online Warrior's Heart (Gifts Of The Ancients #1) by Bianca D'Arc - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bianca D'Arc
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she was with. He hoped and prayed that man would be him again and again.
The thought of her with another drove him mad. He wanted her, and he would keep her for as long as she let him.
But eventually, he feared, his secrets would drive them apart. It was time to share some of those secrets. To see if clearing the air would draw them closer… or drive them apart.
“We saw the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens. Not in ruins. In full bloom.” He stroked her hair as she lay quietly beside him, firmly ensconced in his arms. Somehow it made it easier to talk about, though he’d had difficulties before describing the odd apparition that had forever changed him and his men. “The tower reached toward Heaven itself and shone brightly in the desert sun. We didn’t really notice anything odd at first. Saddam had his people rebuild a lot of the ruins of Babylon, so we figured it was part of that. I sent Zeke and Wil to check it out. They’re archaeologists, so they wanted to see what the builders had done to the ruins. They called us in after we secured the perimeter and showed us that this was no ordinary building. It hadn’t been rebuilt. It was in perfect, original condition. That’s when Jeff started cracking jokes about Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone . Knowing what I know now, I don’t think he was too far off the mark.”
He continued to stroke her soft hair, relishing the feel of her, solid and warm in his arms as he recalled the oddest occurrence of his life.
“We went to the top of the tower cautiously. No one appeared to be there. We stuck to procedure, leapfrogging each other, securing each position. I was the first to reach the pinnacle and for just a moment, the view took my breath away. I don’t know if the old man was there before I got distracted, but when I turned back just a second later, there was this old guy sitting in the center of the room. He was dressed in really fine robes and sitting cross-legged on a very fancy rug. He was looking right at me like he’d been waiting for me.” He shivered, thinking of that life-changing moment and was reassured by her softly stroking hand on his shoulder.
“I called Mike in. He’s our best interpreter, though we spoke a bit of the local dialect, but there was no need. The old guy started speaking in perfect English, which was unexpected, to say the least. He welcomed us in this booming voice, and we lost discipline. The rest of the unit tumbled into the room without orders. The command in that old man’s voice was hard to deny.”
“What happened then?”
“We exchanged words. He asked who we were, and I told him. He didn’t seem to know what the United States was or that the country was at war. I tried to ask him a few questions, but he was cagey. He was pretty clear on his dislike of what Saddam had done to the ruins. He spat a few times when he looked out at the rebuilt portions of the city from his tower. Then he started asking us questions—personal questions—about our beliefs and our values. It was weird. We couldn’t keep from answering. It was like we were compelled somehow. He got us to tell him about the causes for the war and the state of the world. It was like the guy hadn’t seen the news in twenty years.”
“They didn’t have a lot of TVs or a free press in that country before, did they?”
He nodded. “But it was more than that. He really had no clue what had been happening for hundreds of years. We answered questions on everything from the Cold War to the American Revolution. He kept asking and asking, and we were powerless to stop answering. It seemed perfectly normal at the time.”
“So what happened after he finished questioning you? How long did it take?”
“Well, that’s the weirdest part. It seemed like we talked to the guy for hours, but when he finally finished with his questions, I could tell by the position of the sun that only a few minutes had passed. Then he looked at each of us in turn. He came
The thought of her with another drove him mad. He wanted her, and he would keep her for as long as she let him.
But eventually, he feared, his secrets would drive them apart. It was time to share some of those secrets. To see if clearing the air would draw them closer… or drive them apart.
“We saw the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens. Not in ruins. In full bloom.” He stroked her hair as she lay quietly beside him, firmly ensconced in his arms. Somehow it made it easier to talk about, though he’d had difficulties before describing the odd apparition that had forever changed him and his men. “The tower reached toward Heaven itself and shone brightly in the desert sun. We didn’t really notice anything odd at first. Saddam had his people rebuild a lot of the ruins of Babylon, so we figured it was part of that. I sent Zeke and Wil to check it out. They’re archaeologists, so they wanted to see what the builders had done to the ruins. They called us in after we secured the perimeter and showed us that this was no ordinary building. It hadn’t been rebuilt. It was in perfect, original condition. That’s when Jeff started cracking jokes about Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone . Knowing what I know now, I don’t think he was too far off the mark.”
He continued to stroke her soft hair, relishing the feel of her, solid and warm in his arms as he recalled the oddest occurrence of his life.
“We went to the top of the tower cautiously. No one appeared to be there. We stuck to procedure, leapfrogging each other, securing each position. I was the first to reach the pinnacle and for just a moment, the view took my breath away. I don’t know if the old man was there before I got distracted, but when I turned back just a second later, there was this old guy sitting in the center of the room. He was dressed in really fine robes and sitting cross-legged on a very fancy rug. He was looking right at me like he’d been waiting for me.” He shivered, thinking of that life-changing moment and was reassured by her softly stroking hand on his shoulder.
“I called Mike in. He’s our best interpreter, though we spoke a bit of the local dialect, but there was no need. The old guy started speaking in perfect English, which was unexpected, to say the least. He welcomed us in this booming voice, and we lost discipline. The rest of the unit tumbled into the room without orders. The command in that old man’s voice was hard to deny.”
“What happened then?”
“We exchanged words. He asked who we were, and I told him. He didn’t seem to know what the United States was or that the country was at war. I tried to ask him a few questions, but he was cagey. He was pretty clear on his dislike of what Saddam had done to the ruins. He spat a few times when he looked out at the rebuilt portions of the city from his tower. Then he started asking us questions—personal questions—about our beliefs and our values. It was weird. We couldn’t keep from answering. It was like we were compelled somehow. He got us to tell him about the causes for the war and the state of the world. It was like the guy hadn’t seen the news in twenty years.”
“They didn’t have a lot of TVs or a free press in that country before, did they?”
He nodded. “But it was more than that. He really had no clue what had been happening for hundreds of years. We answered questions on everything from the Cold War to the American Revolution. He kept asking and asking, and we were powerless to stop answering. It seemed perfectly normal at the time.”
“So what happened after he finished questioning you? How long did it take?”
“Well, that’s the weirdest part. It seemed like we talked to the guy for hours, but when he finally finished with his questions, I could tell by the position of the sun that only a few minutes had passed. Then he looked at each of us in turn. He came
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