The Mound Builders: Finale (part 2)
by demented20

Chief Warrant Officer Larry Dodds worked with a lamp on his head like a coal miner. He'd first learned his trade in the coal mines of East Tennessee, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Back then he'd been packing good old fashioned dynamite into drill holes, and now he got to work with the best plastic explosives the US government could provide. Larry had joined the Army just in time for war to break out in Korea. He'd made it through that hell hole and through an even deeper bottomless pit in Vietnam. That's why his men looked up to him. They called him the old man, even though he was barely 40. He took to it and felt like all the men under him were his children. And he'd be damned before he let them down. He spliced a wire together and glanced down the tunnel to make sure the armored personnel carrier was in sight. It was, so he went back to work.

The General thought it was easy to drop a hill like this, but this tunnel was pretty well constructed. It would have taken days to really do this correctly, but luckily they had a shit load of c4 and when there are no points for style, lots of explosives will always do the trick. He glanced up at the APC again before turning around 180⁰. A guy with a flashlight was approaching from the safe side of the tunnel. Larry relaxed a little. It took a full minute for the man with the light to get close enough to recognize. It was the Colonel. Larry wondered what an Air National Guardsman wanted, so he decided to ask. "Did the General send you in here, Sir?"

"No, I got bored sitting out there on my ass. I'm not an infantry officer, so nobody's asking my opinions for anything, and the governor won't send any more air assets in after we lost the first chopper so I'm here observing."

"Observing the operation or observing me, Sir?"

The Colonel laughed. "Just carry on, don't mind me looking over your shoulder. I wouldn't know which wire went where. I'll leave if I'm in the way."

"No sir, not at all. Who knows an extra set of eyes might be useful."

Ethan groaned and tossed his flashlight onto the basement floor before climbing out of the hole, being careful not to touch the jackhammer bit holding the steel covering plate. If that big plate fell it would crush him in half. He sighed when he pulled his legs clear and laid down flat on the cold cement. It had been a long, long time since he'd been forced to run that far in such a short time, once to the east side of the Glen and then to West and then back to the center, where he and Anna's journey had begun a couple of hours earlier. He shined his light onto his wristwatch and struggled to his feet. He didn't have time to waste. There was a mission to finish. He trudged up the steps, panning his light side to side in the complete darkness and keeping a steady grip on his pistol. He ran out the front door and warily made his way to the Studebaker. He hopped in and his trusty Speedster started on the first try like it always did. He had to get to the tunnel quickly. He only had 60 minutes until the valley went BOOM.

"So", Larry began, "how long you been in the Air Guard?", he asked fully expecting to get an answer that he didn't.

"About four years", the Colonel replied. "Before that I was in 1^st Battalion, 7^th Cav."

"Ah. I thought you might be a rich man's son, got a nice cushy Stateside job to keep out of 'Nam."

The Colonel laughed. "My father was a mechanic. Worked on beaters all day every day until the day he died. No, I didn't get a pass."

"Saw a lot of shit over there?", Larry asked without looking up.

"Enough. I had a couple of choppers shot out from under me. The second time I spend three days in the jungle hiding from my own damned shadow. After a few years of that action I got a job training other assholes on how to not get themselves killed. But it was all worth it I guess. I flew out a lot of really wounded guys", the Colonel reminisced. "Turned out that one of the kids I pulled out is the governor's son-in-law. He got me the Air Guard gig once I retired from the Army." He sighed loudly. "I never thought I'd have to lose another man under my command, but when this is all over it looks like I'm going to have some letters to write to grieving widows."

"If they let you write that letter, Sir. I doubt the powers that be will want to let on that some men here were killed by flesh eating monsters dug up in the middle of a formerly quiet neighborhood."

"You're probably right. I'll be instructed to write that there was a horrible training exercise and all the men are lost with little chance for recovery of remains." The Colonel got depressed just thinking about it. He cleared his throat and backed away from Larry. They'd touched on a couple of subjects that he didn't want to visit again, but he wasn't ready to go back out to the boredom on the safe side of the tunnel just yet. He shined his light from place to place unnecessarily. All Larry's men wore headlamps and could be seen with just the quickest of glances. They were working away diligently just like their boss.

The Colonel shined his light over towards the Glen and saw the APC still sitting there. Just as he turned away, he saw movement. He squinted and steadied his light. Three men in uniform walked abreast coming towards them. "You expecting a foot patrol?", the Colonel asked Larry.

"No sir", he replied without looking away from his work. "Who would want to dismount in this shit?", he asked, but the Colonel tapped him on the shoulder.

"Then who are those guys?"

Larry looked up and frowned. He grabbed his radio. "Outpost 2, this is EOD team leader. What's your situation, over?" There was no response. He could see the personnel carrier at the end of the tunnel, but they weren't reacting to the three men coming towards the team. "Outpost 2, respond, over." Nothing. "Outpost 1, report your situation", Larry tried the advance team farther away from the tunnel. He got no response from them either.

The Colonel switched the flashlight to his left hand and started towards the three men. "Halt! Identify yourselves!", he called to them in his most commanding tone. The three men just kept walking. Heads turned at the Colonel's command. Men stopped wiring and stopped placing explosives to take in the scene. The Colonel stopped about 600 feet from the men as they continued to advance. He yelled for them to stop. They didn't. He pulled his pistol as the three darkened figures approached. To all the men in the tunnel they looked like little more than walking silhouettes.

"Shit", the Colonel cursed under his breath then turned back to Larry. "Get on the horn with command. Tell them we might have a situation." Larry picked up the radio and started the process while the Colonel raised his gun and took careful aim at the APC at the far end of the tunnel. The bullet was going to fly very near one of the approaching men, if they were men anymore? A man would flinch. He pulled the trigger. The bark of the .45 echoed from one end of the tunnel to the other. The bullet flew past the head of the left most zombie and created sparks when it hit the pavement at the far end of the tunnel near the personnel carrier.

The Colonel didn't even bother to curse again. He took careful aim with his pistol and fired a shot into the torso of the center monster. The body twisted a little from impact, but it never even lost stride. "How close are you to being finished?!?", the Colonel yelled to Larry.

"Not close enough!", the EOD leader replied and ordered his men back. Three jeeps drove in with soldiers ready to put down any monsters. The third and last armored personnel carrier drove up to the mouth of the tunnel, but didn't go in. The General didn't want to commit the last of his heavy assets. He had to keep something in reserve. The caution would benefit him.

Soldiers jumped out of the jeep and unloosed on their former comrades, dropping the three zombies in less than five seconds. No one breathed a sigh. More monsters came in behind them. A wave of creatures came from down the road. Some were obviously soldiers who'd been killed only minutes before. The uniform was unmistakable. The tunnel erupted with gunfire.

"Be careful where you shoot!", Larry yelled at the top of his lungs. Every trigger finger hesitated. The area was full of explosives. Nobody wanted to become a permanent part of the hill.

"Form a line up here", a sergeant yelled to his men and pointed a line about fifty yards from where Larry and the Colonel had been talking. "Nothing gets past us!"

That was a perfect spot Larry thought. He and his men could work behind that line and get the explosive's set. When it was finished they'd haul ass out of the tunnel and bury these damned monsters for all fucking time. Larry and his guys had worked before with battles raging around them, but these enemies didn't shoot back. They moved forward despite the sheet of lead coming at them. Their touch was pretty much the promise of a quick painful death followed by a horrible rebirth as one of them. The soldiers tried not to think about it, but many of them realized for the first time that there truly were some things worse than death itself.

Ethan slowed as he got closer to the exit. A row of burned out houses, a long line of stranded cars, and the slowly rotting corpses of the people he'd shot threatened to crush him in the moment. There was so much death and loss. Twenty years of preparing for this had obviously not been enough. "Almost finished", he sighed and turned the final corner, expecting to speed up the hill, but slammed on the brakes instead. His chin dropped to his chest and his hand unconsciously grabbed hold of his pump shotgun. He'd driven into a huge collection of monsters gathering and funneling towards the mouth of the tunnel. These were all former Glen residents. He saw a woman about 40 years old walk slowly in front of his headlights, naked from the waist up, her skin the color of ash, her face twisted with the hunger that burned inside her and covered in gore from feeding on the bodies of her own children the day before.

She never even looked in his direction. She and the hundreds of others surged towards the tunnel like spectators entering a sporting event. They all moved with a single minded purpose that Ethan had never witnessed. He inched forward, his car forcing zombies to either side of his path. He drove into the midst of them, and they ignored him. He rolled his window down a little, just enough for the monsters to be sure that there was a living breathing person only a few feet from them. They should have been like hungry sharks with blood in the water. Every head should have turned towards him. They should have started beating on his car and trying to get inside to eat him alive, but they didn't. They continued on to the tunnel, and out to the world beyond.

He heard automatic gunfire now and saw the flashes from the soldier's valiant defense. Ethan could only imagine the desperate fight inside that tunnel with soldiers holding back wave after wave of monsters, hoping soon to see the end of them, but not knowing that the throng stretched a long long way.

Monsters surrounded Ethan's car now. He turned in his car looking in all directions, expecting at any time for a hand to burst through his glass and a hundred monsters try to get him, but it did not happen. They entered the mouth of the tunnel, slowly pushing closer and closer to the defenders, but the soldiers held their own. So long as the three jeep convoy kept bringing them ammunition, they'd keep blowing zombie heads off. It wasn't that simple. The valley had secrets that it had not yet revealed.

Ethan thought that every monster in the Glen was trying to get out at once, but the muzzle flashes coming from the tunnel lit up the scene in stop time. He looked to the right of the tunnel entrance and focused on a group heading into the hills, bypassing the mouth of the tunnel completely. They were a smaller group, a pittance compared to the main body, but why were trying to hike into impassable hills?

Maybe there was a deer or a live dog hiding in the hills, but why would monsters chase a deer or a dog when he was within reach in his car right in their midst. They acted as if he wasn't even there. He had to find out what was going on. He took a turn off the road and bounced his way through several yards and through a grove to get near the trail that the small group of zombies were creating He left his car running, taking only his shotgun, pistol, and flashlight. Ethan came up behind the monsters, taking care to not to get too close. He wanted to have time to react in case they turned on him, plus they smelled terrible. He followed behind trying to think of a word worse than putrid.

It was hard to think and impossible to hear anything except the incessant gunfire inside the tunnel. Larry and his men tried to work and not think. The soldiers were fighting bravely, doing a good job keeping the zombies at bay. A pile of bodies three feet high and six feet across had stacked up as thousands of rounds a second rocketed down the tunnel. The soldiers weren't just shooting recklessly. They took care not to hit the charges that were placed against the tunnel roof just above the heads of the advancing monsters. No one paid any attention to what was going on behind them.

There were cracks in the wall of the tunnel from either the initial blast that had blocked both ends of it, or from the frantic effort to clear the rubble to gain access. They weren't thought to be structural weaknesses, and so no one even noticed when a pebble or two fell to the ground. The sound of gunfire punched everybody in the chest and rattled around in their heads. It was only logical that some loose concrete might fall to the ground. Another dropped and another until a small pile of loose concrete chips were beneath a crack near the centerline directly between the Glen exit and the one that lead to the world beyond. The concrete bowed out. New cracks formed, but still no one saw a thing

"Collect the forward lines and get the box ready!", Larry yelled and a couple of his men started gathering wires together.

"How close?", the Colonel asked breathlessly.

"Closer" Larry replied and grabbed a bunch of wires near him and started working his way backwards. The detonators were located in the safe zone about a hundred feet from the tunnel exit, or a quarter mile from where they were standing currently. Larry tried to think positively, but shortly he was going to have to run these wires all the way to the end of the tunnel. Once they got there, all they had to do was hook them up to the detonator and bang, the tunnel would be no more. He didn't like the running part, but he liked the idea of dying even less.

The men gathered and a group of three jogged towards the exit pulling wires behind them. Another group of three took handfuls of wires, lacing them between their fingers to keep them organized. One man looked up when he heard a crack. It sounded like wood breaking, but he couldn't see a stick of wood in sight. He went back to working, but looked up again. He heard a series of pops and cracks. He put his head down one more time and would never look up again.

The bowing concrete wall crumbled to pieces. A single monster fell to the ground, dead again, this time killed by the pressure of the other monsters behind him. The sounds that the soon to be dead EOD man heard was this zombie's bones shattering under the intense pressure. The second monster in line had broken bones from his shoulders down, but he moved quickly and with purpose towards the EOD man. He never got a chance to turn around before a set of teeth sank into his neck and another set bit into his back.

His two partners faired no better. They never got a chance to warn their fellow soldiers before they were swamped by four dozen monsters who poured into the tunnel behind the wall of soldiers holding off the main attack. They fired away at wave after wave of monsters coming up the road while death crept at them from behind.

One of the jeeps was on its third ammo run, brining in crates of bullets for the soldiers on the front line. His headlights were on as he drove, but mostly so people could see him. He could only make out the road a few feet in front of his bumper and everything else was as an abyss. Off in the distance he could make out pinpricks of light coming from the EOD helmets and the flashlights being used by the soldiers to illuminate the monsters that were their targets. For the driver this tunnel felt wrong, like an entrance to an alien world, some place that the living had no place being. The dead got up and walked in this place, and it made him scared in some place very very deep.

He drove as quickly as he dared, ignoring the double yellow line in the center of the road as he made his way closer to the fight. On his last run he'd gotten close enough to see the monsters spotted in the lights. All sorts of people came from old men and women, to young kids. The soldiers shot them indiscriminately, the bodies piled a top the bodies that had fallen before, making a wall of dead that actually shielded the monsters coming from behind allowing them to get closer and closer. The soldiers had fallen back about thirty yards to a new position very close to where Larry and the Colonel were standing, but Larry could not move. He had to get the wires connected before he moved or the explosives wouldn't detonate and these monsters would have an easy way out. The Colonel glanced to his left when he heard the sound of the jeep's engine getting closer. It saved his life.

A head shape, no face, no features, was outlined against the lights of the jeep. Its body was party obscured by the empty boxes of c4 and spools of wire. The Colonel swung towards the head shape as the jeep passed him by. His flashlight was in hand and he trained its beam of light on the head shape and nearly pissed his pants. Light shined on a face completely eaten off. Teeth showed through both ragged remnants of cheeks. A chewed optic nerve hung from an empty socket and a skein of skin dangled from the forehead. His scalp was peeled back to the bone, and big bites had removed most of his neck. The Colonel's scream caught in his terrified throat. The monster hissed; the release of air caused the thin flesh of its exposed larynx and windpipe to flutter like a butterfly's wings. Its single eye, drained of all color locked in on the Colonel and he attacked.

It was a race. The Colonel raised his right arm, but it might be too little and too late. There was barely an arm's length between them. It had come from nowhere. It had sneaked up on him, and now it moved so damned fast, closing the short distance. The Colonel's arm moved as quickly as it ever had, but would it be enough? The monster's mouth opened wide, wider than a human's mouth could. It lunged for the Colonel, looking like it wanted to eat him whole. All the Colonel could see was the open mouth getting closer and closer. The monster had no fear. The Colonel was bathed in. The monster didn't get distracted, while the Colonel was in near shock. The monster didn't see the Colonel's arm moving, nor did it fear the pistol in his right hand. The mouth was close and the forehead even closer. The barrel of the Colonel's .45 met the monster's forehead. The steel hit the bone and the Colonel's finger tightened around the trigger. The hammer fell. The pin struck the primer; the powder burned, and the big lead slug blasted a fist sized hole out of the back of the monster's skull. The body fell at the shaky Colonel's feet and a ribbon of smoke rose from the barrel that had saved his life.

Larry turned around quickly, seeing the look on the Colonel's face then down to the monster lying dead on the pavement. "Where did it come from?", he screamed, but the Colonel couldn't respond.

Larry stood up and shouted the names of some of his men. Two men, the two standing only about ten feet away answered. They turned towards their boss' frantic sounding voice. They'd been working the same as him. They didn't know anything was wrong. Larry shouted again and turned around more, looking where his men should have been, but saw only their mangled bodies. A hundred bites had been taken out of each man. Blood soaked the ground. Some of the monsters had licked and sucked it off the ground. They were covered in it as they passed by Larry and the Colonel and attacked the line of soldiers from behind.

The Colonel broke out of his shock and spun towards the soldiers. "Look out!", he yelled at the top of his lungs, but they couldn't hear him over the sound of their guns. He raised his pistol and fired a shot that hit a monster in the back of the neck. He fired again. The bullet hit the ceiling knocking loose some concrete. A couple of soldiers turned to see where that shot had come from and were eye to eye with zombies. They both opened fire.

"Oh shit!", another soldier cursed and wished he had two guns. Monsters were coming from both sides.

The sergeant grabbed up the radio and screamed into it, "Base we're cut off. We have monsters attacking our position from both sides!"

"How in the hell!", the General yelled back, his mind threatening to fly apart. "We're secure on this end. There's no way for the monsters to have gotten into that tunnel. Not Possible!"

"They're closing in!", the infantry sergeant said back into the radio.

"What about the EOD guys?", the General asked and got no response. He asked again, but the sergeant had been silenced, forever.

Bruce followed the sound of the voice to the source. He was there now in the beautiful room made even more lovely the presence of his master. Shining Sun stood over Bruce and spoke directly into him. "You have done very well. You please me."

A grunt was all that Bruce could manage to show his glee.

"Now you must hurry. She is coming and she is close. If you work quickly enough, she will be yours."

The pale skin around Bruce's mouth turned up in a grim smile. "All the times you fantasized about your teacher, now you can have more of her than you ever dreamed. You will suck her life, and take her strength and make it your own. You will serve next to me as I conquer. You are an Outlander, but you more than the rest have shown your devotion to me. Now work hard before she arrives, and you will get all that is coming to you."

Bruce moved without hesitation. He grabbed up the old ropes and tested their strength. The years had taken their toll, but Shining Sun had wisely kept them in good condition. Bruce set about braiding the loose rope, using the skills he'd learned as a scout to help achieve Shining Sun's victory.

The zombie king himself looked on as his latest lieutenant worked tirelessly and quickly. It was useful to have a minion with that boy's skills. It was very possible that Bruce would be able to finish what had been planned for many years. Although Shining Sun hoped that it would not come to that. If Bruce's construction was needed then Lawepiessi would be too close to victory. He smiled and tried to not think negatively. He was on the edge of victory. Very soon his army would leave this valley and make more creatures to serve Shining Sun. Then at long last, he would be able to leave this cursed underground prison that he'd partially made for himself and rule over everything.

Anna frowned and peered into a dark chamber full of stalagmites and stalactites. Water dripped from the ceiling down to the floor. A light shined from another chamber far away, but Anna had to get through this dark one to find the source of the light. She hoped that she was really close to Shining Sun and to his spell.

She eyed the footing before she continued. She took a step in and instantly curled her nose at the smell of rot. Generations of moss and fungi had lived and died here along with what ever had fallen off the hundreds of zombies who'd been here too. They were gone now, gone into the world above to ruin what had been a nice community, to kill people, tear families apart, and ruin lives. Mixed in with the memories of faces long dead, Anna saw the face of her dead neighbor Evelyn. She saw the image of her late boss Mr. Seltzer lying in his front yard with his grieving wife crying over his body. She remembered the complete dread when the monsters had nearly killed Cindy, Mary, and herself. And she remembered the feeling of empty loss and helplessness when she saw that her son, her only child, had been bitten by a flesh eating monster. As she worked her way closer to the source of this horrible spell, she could only imagine how her little boy was coping with dying slowly. Anna fought off the urge to get angry, and wove her way through the stalagmites. She frowned and looked off towards the other side of the big room, towards the light.

Anna's right hand idly brushed the top of her machete. Her senses were tuned to the limit. She heard every sound including her own heartbeat, and even the sound the blood rushing through her veins. The air was thick with the smell of death keeping her from recognizing a monster by scent, but at least the red glow was still around her. It wasn't quite as bright as the light coming from the far side of the room, but it was bright enough to eliminate shadows when she got close to them.

She was nearly to the other side of the room when she gripped the machete and pulled the blade free. The sharpened steel bit into the leather sheath as it came out. It felt good to have it in her hand and ready. She went over scenarios in her head, trying to be ready for anything. She wanted to be ready if something jumped out at her, but they didn't jump. She rounded a stalagmite and  four monsters stood off to the side, not even blocking her path. These were old zombies. They wore the ancient dress of the tribe they had once been members of. These men had been warriors. Despite the apprehension and good sense, Anna walked closer to them. For most of the Glen's survivors they got a bit of joy from killing the old zombies. To some hunters it had been a badge of honor to slay one of the monsters wearing the old native cloths or what was left of the old native clothes. The painful feelings had come from killing the new monsters, the ones who had at one time been their neighbors and friends. Those kills were the ones that caused grown men to cry at night, but that hadn't been the case for Anna. They'd all been painful. When she looked into the dead faces of these four monsters she did see neighbors and friends, not the ones from Hidden Glen, but from the little town in Oklahoma where she'd been born. These four men had lived and died centuries before her birth, but they seemed so familiar. The magic stones around her neck heated up as she got closer, but the monsters didn't make a move.

"Did you send them here to stop me?", Anna asked in the old dialect. "What makes you think these four will succeed where the other forty you've sent at me failed?"

Shining Sun's laugh sounded far off. "I sent them to greet you, One Who Wanders. These were some of the first warriors that I purposely turned after the Elders betrayed me. The one to your left was the very first. He fought so bravely that several people were able to get to safety while we struggled, but in the end I won. I was thinking of you when I bit into his throat." He laughed again, deeper and harder. "You still do not know them!?!", he asked. The question caused Anna's hackles rise. In their culture that question had a much deeper meaning than the words suggested, and Shining Sun knew that. There were other phrases that he could have used, but he used that one on purpose.

Anna was close to the four now. Their faces had been twisted and dried in death, but she could see past that. Her brow furrowed and she stepped even closer, close enough to reach out and touch one. That's exactly what she did. When her skin met his, the stones around her neck flashed brightly. Time and space disappeared for Anna. The Mound Builder's magic bent to her will and pierced the spell of undeath, through the inescapable hold of Shining Sun to the very soul of this monster and felt who this man had been before. Somewhere deep this nameless monster was aware. She felt his anguish, anger, and strangely his pride. She was confused until, with Shining Sun's command, the monster moved its hand to Anna's head. Normally she would have jumped back, but she didn't… she couldn't. When the monster touched Anna gently she was thrown back to the village to the very day when Shining Sun had killed this man. She was looking through the eyes of a young boy who watched his father fight the fight of his life only to lose. She realized after a brief time that she was looking through the eyes of Seven Bulls, one of her direct ancestors. She could sing several songs about his exploits. He grew up to become a powerful warrior and chief. And if she was looking through the eyes of one of her grandfathers, and this monster was the father to Seven Bulls, then this monster was one of Anna's grandfathers too. He was still in there, unable to be with his loving family in the hereafter because of Shining Sun's spell.

Anna fell to her knees and tears welled as she understood. Shining Sun laughed loudly. "And now you know! Meet your family! I killed them all. It's too bad I did not get a chance to kill every one of your family members, but I am patient. I have been waiting on you for a long time. And now I think I should have your uncle kill you in my honor or perhaps your grandfather."

Anna was overwhelmed with grief, as Shining Sun had expected. She was vulnerable now. The earlier monsters had tired her physically; this had exhausted her mentally, and the fact that she would be slain by her own kin made it that much sweeter for Shining Sun. Anna seemed oblivious as the four monsters crowded around her.

"My name is One Who Wanders, daughter of Standing Bear", she stated proudly with tears in her eyes as the gnarled hands reached for her. "I do now know you, and you don't know me, but very soon you will."

Anna jumped to her feet, and pulled back her machete at the same time. Muscles cut at angles across her ultra lean body as she swung. The blade severed the hand near her. She spun in a tight circle, swinging her blade as she did. The next swing struck bone, just below the first zombie's neck. The head tumbled from the body. Her strong core muscles absorbed the power of her swing and redirected it instantly into another powerful slash. She cut into a skull this time, destroying the brain, killing the monster and knocking its now dead body into the third monster. It lost balance, but Anna didn't. Her aim was spot on. Tears still fell from her eyes as she cleaved a head in two. The fourth monster had circled around her, but she lunged away and swung wildly backwards. The flat of the machete hit the monster's jaw so hard that it dislocated. Anna didn't wait for the monster to turn to her again. She stepped to her right and attacked from the side. The machete crashed violently into the zombie's skull. It died, and she turned one more time to the head lying sideways on the ground. She swung without thinking, without trying to feel, or to notice, but she thought in the instant before the blade cracked open the skull that the monster, her grandfather, had smiled. Anna huffed and sucked in the putrid air, needing oxygen for her hyper pumped muscles after her ten seconds of furious activity. The remains of her four ancestors lay dead at her feet.

"That was unexpected", Shining Sun's far off voice allowed.

Anna smiled. "No that was a mistake. Probably the first one you've made since you were trapped down here."

"Arahh!", Shining Sun roared. "My mistake?!? You troublesome little child! I saw your coming hundreds of years ago, and I have been planning to stop you. Do you think I care if you sent those four to the afterlife where they can join your family? Do you think I fear the meager strength that they will add to your weakening power?", he screamed, his voice sounding much closer now.

"No, you're afraid of me! You're so afraid that you tried to kill me before I was even born. You tried to wipe out my family line hundreds of years ago because you knew that one day I'd come down here and kill you." Shining Sun said nothing, so Anna continued. "You said you were waiting for me. Well, here I come."

"The monsters came from that hole in the wall!", an EOD man yelled and shined his light on the opening.

"Damn", Larry breathed and wiped his sweaty brow, trying to think of a solution, and failing. The monsters had the soldiers tied up to his right and to his left they had killed several of his men, and those former US Army soldiers had joined another army. It only took moments for them to rise up and begin hunting their former compatriots. It was disheartening to have to level his gun and shoot them, but he had to remind himself that whatever those things were, they most certainly weren't his men anymore. He was sure that he'd mourn them later, but for now he had a job to do, and a few team members left to do it.

"Keep an eye on that hole in the wall", Larry ordered one of his men. "If a monster comes out of it, blow its fucking head off! Got it!"

"Yes sir."

Larry turned to another of his men. "Gather up these wires. We have to get them to the detonators and get this fucking tunnel sealed." His men started working, but the exit seemed so far away that it might as well have been on the moon. They couldn't see how they'd be able to drag the wires that far without getting eaten alive by monsters, but they didn't see any alternative. It wasn't as if there was another way out.

"They're getting closer!", a soldier who'd been holding the front line called out to the rest of the living. They had nearly abandoned shooting the zombies coming up from the Glen and instead focused on the ones who'd attacked them from behind. They'd called for a retreat.

A jeep roared down the tunnel, closing in on the beleaguered EOD men and infantry. Only its headlights could be seen, but it was getting closer and there were three more coming in behind it. The Colonel thought that this was the answer to fervent prayer, but before the lead jeep got within a hundred yards it swerved. The driver hadn't turned in time. He slammed into a zombie who'd once been a corporal. The zombie's leg bones shattered on impact, but it gripped the hood tightly and dragged itself up. The driver swerved again, and the monster climbed up more. The passenger fired a shot at the beast's head. He missed. The creature filled the driver's view. He swerved again, directly into the wall. Steam and smoke rose from the engine. One headlight shined, broadcasting the silhouetted death of the men in the lead jeep.

The second jeep slammed on the brakes, but the third was running too close and hit the second jeep in the rear. Two men were thrown from the vehicles. The zombies pounced, eating flesh by the pound as men screamed until they mercifully passed out from a combination of blood loss and pain. The fourth and last jeep turned around to leave.

"So much for that", the Colonel mused, thinking that perhaps those would be among his final words. He looked for a way out without seeing hope, and the news got worse.

The EOD soldier watching the crack in the wall yelled, "I think I see movement!"

Ethan had turned sideways and scooted through the passage in the solid rock hoping that he wasn't following this group of monsters to his death. He held his shotgun in his left hand and his .38 revolver in his right. But he shuttered thinking about being attacked by monsters from both sides, never thinking that the soldiers inside the tunnel were experiencing that as he moved. He could hear and feel the gunfire. The vibrations traveled through the rock of the hill and into Ethan's body, but as he continued the sounds and frequency of the shots lessened. Fewer men were firing, which meant that men were dying and even worse, becoming zombies. He upped his pace, despite is fatigue. He had to get in there and do something, anything to help those men. He thought he saw lights out there and movement. Somebody was still alive. Ethan had to hold his breath to fit through a tight spot, but he burst through the pinch and into the tunnel only feel the buzz of bullets pass close to his head. Chips of concrete stung his face. He jumped back into the crack.

"Don't shoot!", Ethan yelled and waved his shotgun out the crack to show that he was sentient. When he thought it was safe he poked his head out, then emerged.

"How the hell did you get through there?", a man wearing a colonel's eagle asked.

"I followed the monsters", Ethan answered and looked both left and right. It was worse than he though. "Anybody alive back that way?", he pointed towards the Glen side of the tunnel.

The last man's muzzle flash had stopped just before Ethan had been shot at. The look on everybody's faces told that the last of the defenders was dead, and already the recently killed jeep drivers were rising.

"There aren't enough men to stop all of them", the Colonel said grimly and motioned towards the safe side of the tunnel where the command post was. "The guys in the APCs might live until they run out of bullets or gas, but by then everybody around would have become one of those things."

Larry shook his head, causing his light to shine erratically. "Damn it we have to blow up this tunnel. We have all the charges set, but the detonators are out there."

"You're in luck men, I happen to have a detonator. Grab those leads and let's follow this fissure out of here."

He didn't have to tell the men twice. The surviving EOD men, including Larry, grabbed the wires and went in just behind Ethan. The Colonel took a rifle, a couple of magazines of extra ammo and brought up the rear. He faced backwards waiting for the zombies to come, but only a couple did. He quickly shot them, and fortunately their bodies clogged the space preventing any more monsters from following them quickly. They wouldn't have anyway. The monsters were nearly sprinting now. The recently dead ones moved faster than the others and they all ran headlong towards the far exit, towards the outside world. They were in a race, and their master Shining Sun knew it.

Ethan jumped from the fissure back into the Glen and looked around for anything out of the ordinary, but didn't see anything. He helped the EOD men out of the hole and made sure they still had their wires before he quickly lead them down the hill to his parked car. Single monsters got in their way, but the running men ignored them. The Colonel was the last one out of the hole and he had to follow the light down the hill towards Ethan's car.

He was already there. He threw open his trunk and before he could even pull out the detonator box, the men were attaching the leads. Ethan was a little out of practice compared to these guys, but they didn't try to push him out of the way. They saw at once that he knew what he was doing, and they could use every knowledgeable hand.

The General armed himself, and the APC's machine gun was already firing into the tunnel. The 7.62mm slugs dropped every monster they hit, but they weren't hitting enough. The shooter might as well have been shooting at drops of rain hoping to end a storm. Those monsters were going to reach the end of the tunnel, and once they did, the soldiers wouldn't have a single weapon capable of stopping them. Survivors who thought that they were safe, tried to run to the busses or simply tried to run far away. Soldiers tried to put on brave faces, but the sound of the rushing monsters was all they could hear. A rifle fired as the first monster reached the APC's armored side. Then another and another and a dozen more all hit the side of the personnel carrier. When no more zombies could fit they pushed against each other until the heavy vehicle was rocking, then teetering. The driver slammed the vehicle into reverse, but it tipped over before he could push his foot to the pedal. The monsters took one step away from the tunnel's exit before the biggest, most deafening, chest compressing explosion many of them had ever witness occurred.

It felt like the world was rocking, and it looked like the entire hill was lifted a couple of feet before it crashed back down. The tunnel wasn't collapsed; it was obliterated. Rocks from the hills above crashed down and filled the space completely sealing what had once been an opening.

Some people cheered, and others stood in awe. Several soldiers, many still dazed from the blast, approached the former tunnel exit. The APC crew was climbing from their hatches, injured but alive, while the other soldiers checked on the monsters that had tipped the vehicle. Every soldier breathed a sigh of relief. The concussion wave had literally blasted the monsters to pieces. Arms and legs had been severed and others had been crushed to mushy sacks of flesh when their bodies had been forced against the reinforced armor of the personnel carriers. It was several minutes before the soldiers on the outside realized that men had set off that explosion, men that they had served with, men who had sealed themselves inside Hidden Glen in order to save the rest of them.

None of the men standing around the trunk of Ethan's Studebaker cheered. They watched in silence as the rocks settled, and listened to the last echo bounce off the far hills and back. Ethan looked down at the detonator. The wires had been attached, hastily, but effectively. "You know", he began with a sigh. "I'd hoped to be on the other side of that damned tunnel when this thing was used. At least it's done. They can't get out now."

"Who the hell are you anyway, and what were doing with a detonator in your trunk?", Larry asked.

"Name's Ethan Chase, and I don't even have time to begin to explain what I'm doing with a detonator in my trunk."

"Oh I beg to differ", the Colonel said. "Unless those monsters rush us over here, we have plenty of time."

"Well actually not", Ethan said and shined the light on his watch. "We have about 40 minutes or so before this entire valley is blown sky high. Don't you smell the natural gas?"

"Yeah actually I do", an EOD man answered.

"I have charges set. This entire valley is going to go bye-bye. We can't take a chance of even one of those monsters getting out of here. I just hadn't planned on the zombies being so… so coordinated."

"Fuck coordinated. Those things had tactics. It's like they were being controlled by a general of their own."

Larry sat down on the grass. "Well, if they do have a general, I bet he's pretty fuckin peeved at us." He was more right than he knew, but for the moment his anger was tempered by distraction.

Anna was careful as she ducked down to enter the next chamber. The light was bright like a summer's day. She was forced to squint her eyes until they adjusted, and gone too was the horrible smell from the room before. Sweet natural fragrances like blooming flowers and honey filled her nostrils, although she was the only living thing to be found. She had no idea the sources of scents or of the light. It just shined. When her eyes were accustomed to the light, she looked around the room. It was nearly circular with a big circular rock formation in the center. It was just high enough for Anna to not be able to see over it to the other side, and wide enough that only so much of it could be seen without walking around to observe from another angle.

Anna stayed near the walls though, brushing against them as she moved. They were smooth like finished concrete. Anna marveled at the simple beauty and even serenity of this room. She stepped around the perimeter with her machete in hand. She felt the power and knew Shining Sun, and even more importantly, his spell had to be close. Anna had learned from the Elders that every magic had to be constructed just like a house. It had to have a foundation and supports. It also needed a source of power, and as beautiful as this room was there was no source of anything, the light, the smells, the smooth walls. This room looked like a space filled with power, but it wasn't. This was simply the manifestation of that power. Anna wasn't fooled, but she decided to pretend like she was.

"Where are you, Shining Sun?", Anna taunted in the old dialect while slowly continuing to circle the room. "I know you are close. I can feel you. I know your spell is in here too. Why don't you come out and let us have this out, or I'll find you and kill you just the same."

Anna heard an exacerbated sigh come from the other side of the circular formation, but she didn't hurry to see. Instead she kept talking. "I know all about you Shining Sun. I know how you created the spell and turned it on your own people. You caused us to have to leave our homeland for decades before we could come back."

"Then you must know that I was right all along. You of all people know that I was correct in everything! I said that the Outlanders would come back, and they did. I said that they would claim a portion of our lands, and they did! I said that they would crush us and drive us to near extinction, AND THEY DID!! I could have prevented this, One Who Wanders. If they had listened to me, you would be a princess instead of a teacher to children."

"I have chosen to do what I do. I build people up, not tear them down. You killed so many of us that we were too weak to even hold onto our lands. We had to retreat south. By the time we came back everything that had once been ours belonged to others, including to the Outlanders. That was your doing, Shining Sun. Your intentions may have started out pure, but you should have heeded the Elders' warnings. They were as much for you as anything else. No man, no matter how noble his intentions, can attempt to control life and death without become corrupted. You became corrupted after only a few months. Chasing power corrupts even the strongest of people, and you are no exception."

"I AM THE EXCEPTION!!", Shining Sun roared. "I have always been! No one could have constructed a magic this powerful! No one but me!! The feeble minded Elders could only dream of the power that I will soon possess. They were quite cunning in their trap to keep me here, but I have the luxury of time. It is true that I sacrificed much of myself to save our people, and now here is one of my tribe come to kill me. Why don't you join me and we can rule all the lands that should have belong to us in the first place!"

"Because this spell is evil. I'll have no part of it. People are born; they live, and they die. They shouldn't be trapped here serving you as monsters, killing innocent people, destroying families. They become worse than the lowest animal. No, I am here to end your reign before it begins."

Shining Sun's laugher came from all around her. "You foolish child. My reign began when our people were as numerous as trees in a forest, and if those doddering and foolish Elders you speak of had listened to me our people would still rule these lands. Instead we are scattered and few. You have come with bad intentions daughter of mine, but you should join me instead. Add your skill and strength to my own."

"And become a monster? I don't think so."

Shining Sun's laugh filled the space again, knocking dust from the walls. Anna crept closer to the circular rock, but she stopped when a man stepped out from behind another rock off to her right. He was tall, bronzed, and exceedingly handsome. His face was so strong and masculine that he looked like every warrior in every one of Anna's daydreams. He stood there still in the prime of his life. Age had not touched him since he'd created his spell centuries ago. Three feathers hung from his dark hair and bands around his arms and chest marked the battles that he'd won. Sashes around his waist and head were painted and colored showing his lofty status within the tribe, and his knee length pants were painted with every color in the rainbow. A sheen of sweat coated his ageless skin and showed off his own tight muscular frame. His hands were big and strong. He had killed animals with those hands, and men. He looked fearless, powerful, and proud, like every Native Elder should look. He smiled at her expression and looked her over as well.

He had seen visions of this woman who would come to stop him, but there was no substitute for seeing her with his own eyes. She was a sight to behold, every bit his equal and perhaps more. She had braided her long black hair and it was pulled tight accentuating the lines and structure of her beautiful face. Her shoulders and back were strong and straight, and the taper of her body down to her small tight waist made the flare of her hips even more intoxicating. Her arms were sculpted perfection, with every muscle defined, and complementary of muscles around it. Her legs were gorgeous and sexy. "So, One Who Wanders, do I look like a monster to you?", Shining Sun asked in his real voice, using no magic to disguise it. It was deep and resonant without the magic anyway.

Anna only stared; her voice and her wit failed her. When she had been a child listening to her father's stories about the Tribe's past she'd played them out in her head like a movie. She'd given all the heroes faces and this face, this body, this strong man was the hero in every one of Anna's childhood fantasies. Most young girls dreamed of a knight in shining armor to come take her away on a steed, but not Anna. Her fantasy had looked just like Shining Sun, and now she was going to have to kill him. Her fingers tightened around the handle of her machete, but he disarmed her before she ever moved a muscle.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen", he stated, staring at her with his intense ageless brown eyes. "You are more than the moon and the stars. The clouds come to prevent the sun's jealousy because your radiant beauty outshines its own." He walked around her, and from the back the unfair shape of her hour glass figure was even more pronounced. The curves and angles of her body were on full display. "The most beautiful, I have ever seen", he repeated. "And possibly the strongest."

Anna flinched when Shining Sun's hands grasped her arms. His hands were calloused, but his touch was gentle, at first. He felt along the full length of her arms, Anna thought that he might try to snatch her blade, but he didn't. He went back up and stopped just below her shoulders. His big hands began to squeeze. His fingers pressed into the solid muscle of Anna's arms. His thick fingers squeezed until she felt it in her bones. After the first stab of pain, Anna began to flex her arms. She tightened her hands into fists, causing veins to shoot up her arms like bolts of lightning. Her upper arms tightened, forcing his fingers out. He squeezed a little harder and her muscles matched him, keeping his fingers from denting her cast iron arms.

"I will not insult you by asking you to be my wife. A wife must be subject to her husband, and you should be subject to no man. You are fit to rule as my equal. Age has not touched me and I will offer you a chance that the Elders refused. Join me and I can give you command of the army and we can take back what should be ours."

"Many people will have to die", Anna noted softly, her breath coming quickly and not from fatigue.

"Yes, they will, but they will be sacrifices to our kingdom. Everyone mustn't die. They need only to recognize the legitimacy of our rule for them to be allowed to live a natural life. That seems fair to me."

"I can't allow that to happen."

"What makes you think you can stop it?"

"I have to stop it. Everyone is counting on me", she said, as much to remind herself as to inform Shining Sun. "I have to kill you and destroy your spell."

"And what a fine job you are doing of that, One Who Wanders. You know that I am right. Join me, and we will rule."

Anna swallowed a lump in her throat. As dangerous as she had already believed Shining Sun to be, he was far worse. He was cunning and charming and convincing. She had started this conversation to play a game to draw him in for the kill, but she was the one in a snare. His words appealed to a part of her. She chided herself for those thoughts, but they were in her head. Perhaps she could temper Shining Sun if she ruled next to him. Perhaps she could convince him to spare the millions who would surely die if she failed in her attempt to kill him. She could succeed in joining him, where she might fail in opposing him. Perhaps she could spare her husband and her son… her son!

"Alex!", she exclaimed and pulled away from Shining Sun's grip. She turned to face him, her countenance set and the choice written in her dark eyes. "I will stop you, Shining Sun, or die in the attempt!", Anna vowed and slowly raised her machete.

Shining Sun glared. "Do you think you can stop me here in this room, the source of my power?", he challenged.

"I can", Anna answered with surprising firmness. He'd misjudged her. Shining Sun stepped away from Anna who held her ground. His grin looked eerily like a grimace as he readied for battle. "Then come at me, One Who Wanders! Stop me if you are able!!!"

Anna eyed him across the space. She gathered her courage, her strength, then attacked. She feigned to the left and slashed to the right. Shining Sun had prepared for a slower somewhat clumsy attack, but Anna's speed was borderline unreal and her aim was spot on. Her first slash cut into his flesh just below the shoulder. She recovered quickly and cut at him again. The blade whistled as it sliced through the air, trying to draw blood for the second time. Shining Sun's smile had melted when he first felt the bite of Anna's machete. It came for him this time, and he ducked. The blade swiped over his head. She swung again.

He caught her wrist and her throat at the same time. His left hand held her right wrist tightly, while his right hand squeezed her neck so tightly that her head felt ready to pop. Veins pulsed to the surface in the middle of her forehead and even thicker veins shot to the surface of her biceps, pecs, and delts as Anna fought against his strength. Anna's face, already distorted from his choke hold, contorted even more as she struggled to bend her arm. The blade vibrated in her hand like a tuning fork as she slowly bent her arm against his will. Shining Sun wasn't a man who liked his will being defied. He looked down at her growing arm. As sharp as the blade in her hand was, her muscles looked even sharper, deadlier. The muscle fibers gathered and bunched. Her skin grew hot as Anna poured every ounce of herself into this. Shining Sun watched his arm move back about six inches before he'd seen enough. He let go of her throat and stepped into her. His shoulder socked Anna in the jaw as he spun to slam his back into her chest. She grunted from the impact on her chest and saw stars from the blow to the jaw. Shining Sun now took her wrist with both his hands.

Still dazed from the blow, Anna tugged and pulled to get free, but he held her in an unbreakable grip. He'd barely shown his true strength when he'd squeezed her arms before. With his fingers grinding the bones of her wrist, he twisted slowly, building the pain as he went. Anna tried to twist her arm with it, but he simply leaned into her taking away the little leverage that she could generate. He twisted all the more. A scream built in the back of Anna's throat as the tendons and ligaments of her lower arm were on the verge of tearing. Her nerves were on fire and she lost control of her fingers as the twist continued. She never let go of her machete, she simply couldn't command her fingers to hold on any longer. Shining Sun reached across his body and easily took the handle from her hand like he'd take something away from a child. He laughed, while still holding her wrist and without a warning he sent an elbow to her ribs. Pain shot through Anna's body. He elbowed her again; a sharp yelp came out before he let go and allowed her to fall to the dusty ground.

"I should kill you with this", Shining Sun began. "You have killed too many of my soldiers with it."

"They're monsters! Just like you!", Anna yelled while cradling her wrist and grimacing from the bruised ribs..

He stepped towards her and Anna backed away, scooting along the ground. "It's too bad this new society that you teach in does not instruct their women how to fight off men. You are strong and fierce enough, but you lack training, One Who Wanders. That is your undoing."

He checked the sharpness of the blade with his thumb, watching fine layers of skin flake off like shaved hair. He seemed rather impressed with it. He raised it high and took aim at Anna. He drank in her fear. It was all over her face. She sat meekly and was going to watch as he killed her, helpless to stop him and too stupid to join him. It was a waste. He had promised her to another, but situations changed. He wouldn't even allow her to join his army. He aimed for her neck, intending to slide her head from her body and stomp her pretty face until he saw fit to stop.

Anna's eyes didn't even look at the blade as it started its journey forward. The swipe was efficient, hard, and deadly. Anna sat for as long as she dared, tempting fate and trusting her body. She'd trusted her muscles, her strength, and her athleticism to get her out of trouble before and it had. This time was no different. She leaned back as the blade sliced directly where her neck had been. She lay down flat on the ground, watching Shining Sun attempt to adjust his swing for the moving target, but he couldn't get low enough. As the blade passed over her, she curled her body, put her palms on the ground behind her head and bounded to her feet. Shining Sun turned the blade over and started a deadly back swing, but Anna stepped into him and caught his arm with both of her hands.

"I may lack training, but I'm a really quick learner!", Anna yelled. Shining Sun leaned against her, but couldn't push her back so he reached around trying to grab her. She leaned way and used his own torque to twist his wrist. When his hand was upside down, Anna kicked the blade from his hand and pulled him towards her only to push him backwards hard. He stumbled and his back slammed against the rock formation in the center of the room. Now the pain showed on his face and air rushed from his lungs. Anna ran, lowering her shoulder driving it into his gut. More air rushed from his lungs and blood bubbled to his lips. She thought she heard bones creaking as he was pressed between the power of her long muscled legs and the immovable stone. Shining Sun fell to the ground, but Anna barely let him fall. She'd felt his hand on her throat and now it was time to feel her hands on his.

Anna put both of her feminine hands around his throat and squeezed. Muscles jumped to attention. Bumps and ridges as rugged as the hills around the Glen showed on her flexed forearms. Her fingers compressed his neck to nearly half of what it should be as she tried to choke the life from him. Every muscle in her upper body flexed, trying to kill this man who had caused so many people so much pain. She knew that it would end with him though. She'd still have to destroy the spell. Even if he'd created it, it could exist without him. Shining Sun's lungs burned terribly since they'd been empty when her smallish fingers had clamped around his throat. Her eyes locked on his and he saw her intent.

Anna had never wanted to hurt anybody, even if she'd been able to and they'd deserved it. But as she looked into Shining Sun's frantic eyes, she wanted to hurt him, to make him suffer as the others had suffered because of what he'd done. She waned to watch the life drain from him, and she wanted to call to her ancestors when this wayward Elder joined the afterlife.

His face changed colors as he fought for oxygen. His strong hands grasped Anna's arms and desperation fueled his attempts to pull her hands free, but her muscles felt like living steel beneath his fingers. Without air, he didn't have the energy. He couldn't fight against her. His eyes dimmed. His muscles went slack. Anna's eyes burned like flames. She bore down and tried to finish him off. He extended his longer arms out and pushed against her face forcing her neck back. Anna was determined to keep her hands around Shining Sun's throat. Anna tried to force her head back down, but her neck wasn't as strong as his arms and her neck gave up resistance after only a few seconds. He forced her head to turn and forced her head back, but when his finger got close to her mouth, she bit it to the bone.

Shining Sun yelled and she tasted iron as the blood filled her mouth. The pressure let up on her head and he pulled his hand from her mouth, but even though he was nearly unconscious from lack of air he smiled. Anna couldn't imagine why until the burning started. She tried to fight it, but it felt like someone had poured napalm in her mouth. While she was distracted Shining Sun pushed her off and took a breath of air. His face was still a shade of purple when he got to his feet and stood up.

"How does that feel? Do you like my blood? The same magic that keeps time from touching me, is killing you. I offered you this magic, One Who Wanders and you refused." He laughed. "But I suppose you are getting a taste of the magic first hand."

Anna was face down and dragging herself away from him with one arm while the other clutched her throat. The pain was so severe that her brain had trouble processing it. It was killing her, but Shining Sun had seen Anna escape death too often to leave it for magic to kill her. He grabbed up the machete and walked over her. He wanted to chop her head off and eat the insides. Anna clawed at the ground trying to put distance between them, but she could hardly move. She didn't even think about the Mound Builder's magic until the necklace around her neck began to tingle against her skin. The Mound Builder's magic bent to her will and it bent now, quenching the fire burning inside. Remnants of the pain remained, but it lessened with every moment. She still clawed away from Shining Sun, until he was standing over her. She didn't wait for him to raise the blade. She opened her fingers to grab the ground to pull herself away one more time, but instead of pulling on the dirt, she grabbed a clump of earth, turned and flung it in Shining Sun's eyes. He staggered and Anna grabbed him by the ankles. She pulled his feet to her and he tumbled to the ground like a big oak tree. His head hit against the circular stone, and Anna jumped up. She crouched over a dazed Shining Sun taking him by his long hair then beating his head over and over against the stone. Fury fueled her strength, and anger fueled her intent. She hit his head as hard as she could, leaving smears of blood on the unblemished stone. Shining Sun's eyes rolled in his sockets, but still he smashed his head. Her mind was turned off, her usual self was gone. Her only thought was to kill Shining Sun. She hit his head again and again until her right hand lashed out and grabbed the machete. In a thoughtless fit of rage, Anna raised the blade high over her head and stabbed it down. She'd used this same weapon to kill more zombies than she cared to remember, but they'd all been undead. Their flesh had yielded easily to the blade, but living flesh resisted. She felt the resistance and felt his skin surrender to the steel. The machete cut through organs and out his back, her strength powering a stab that sent the entire blade through his body. Only the machete's grip stopped her progress.

He curled up and his hands reached towards the blade. Blood ran from his mouth and his eyes and his ears and the back of his head. Anna leaned away, sweat dripping from her head to his wound. The look of satisfaction on her face made him angry. He tried to sit up, but most of the blade was actually sticking through him into the ground pinning him. "This is not over", Shining Sun rasped and tried in vain to pull out the blade. The ground around him was getting wet from his blood. Anna got to her feet.

"It will be when I find your spell", she said in English and looked around the room, but the bright light was starting to wane as the life drained out of its creator. The red glow of the Mound Builder's magic showed now that the other light faded. Other things faded as well. She began to hear water, rushing water. She tilted her head and followed the sound. As the bright light in the room faded more, the sound grew louder until it roared, filling the room with sound. Anna frowned and looked around until she saw a small opening on the ground behind a waist high outcropping.

"No!!!", Shining Sun screamed as Anna approached the opening. He pulled against the blade, making some progress, but not enough. Anna got down on her hands and knees. The opening was just large enough for a person the size of Shining Sun to squeeze through.

"So this must be where you built your spell", Anna told a struggling, but weakening Shining Sun as she looked at the hole. She reluctantly stuck her head into the next chamber, the red glow allowing her to see. And she was awed.

From the invisible distance a river flowed underground. Its mighty current rushed over boulders the size of Chevys and raced towards a fall. Cool refreshing spray from the hundred yard wide waterfall hit Anna in her face. She moved inside enough to look down and her stomach turned a flip. The waterfall was really, really tall. She could see at least a hundred feet of falling water before the darkness swallowed the sight, only the spray came back up. All magic needed a source of power and this waterfall was an impressive source.

The falling water had created crescent shaped chasm all around it, and only a natural bridge of stone crossed it. The bridge was about three feet wide and twenty feet long. There wasn't much room on her side of the chasm so she knew the spell had to be on the other side. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she began crawling across the bridge, knowing that the bottom was more than a hundred feet below her. The stone bridge was slick from the water, but Anna was careful. She'd made it this far and she wasn't down here to fail. She wished she had time to marvel and enjoy this natural wonder, but she had to find the spell. She crawled and crawled across the hard stone until she got to the other side. Tentatively she stood up. It was pretty slick here, but the footing was good enough. She looked around for the spell, and didn't have to look far. It was lit up like a neon sign. In a space lit only by the glow of Mound Builder magic stones around her neck, Shining Sun's construction showed brightly. It was just as awesome as the falls. Anna could feel the power of it even from a distance.

A hundred magic stones like the ones Anna wore around her neck had been built into a pyramid turned on its top where one stone at the bottom held up four stones above it, and those four stones held sixteen stones and so on. It was an impossible construction that should have collapsed before it was even finished, but its purpose was clear. It was the reverse to the Mound. Where as it had collected power and distributed it to the seven Elders, this spell gathered power and delivered it to only one man, Shining Sun.

Anna wore seven magic stones around her neck, and seven stones meant powerful magic, but this spell was more massive than the Mound Builders could have possibly conceived of. It was far beyond what they could have understood to be possible. Shining Sun had built a magic that blurred the lines of life and death and set himself up as a quasi deity controlling it all. Anna hoped the Elders' magic was powerful enough to destroy this spell. That was the only hope of wiping out ever monster. Anna took the first step towards the spell.

Her foot brushed a stone held down by another stone and a rope under tension released. Anna couldn't hear the whipping of the rope or its creaking over the sound of the falls. She took another step. Over her head two big rocks rested precariously on the edge of the cliffs surrounding the falls. The rope snatched against them starting their slide. A hand woven net was attached at each end to the rocks. It unfurled like a sail. The rocks slid down, gaining speed until Anna heard their rumble even over the falls. She took another step, and looked up into the blackness. She couldn't see a thing. She raised her foot to take another step, hearing sounds all around her, but not knowing what to make of them. Her foot came down. The sole of her shoe came to rest on a patch of wet moss. She slipped, flailing to keep her balance. Just then the net swooped down, aiming to wrap around her. It would have wrapped her up from her neck to her knees, but the top of the net missed her head and the bottom hit her mid torso. The thick braided bottom of the net caught her, and the power of the falling rocks dragged Anna backwards like she was attached to a freight train. The bottom of the net pinned her left arm to her side while her right arm tried in vain to slow her skid. Her fingers gripped small depressions in the stone only to be pulled loose before she got a chance to get a grip. Not that it would have mattered. The stones were much too heavy. There was nothing she could do.

She slid backwards in the darkness, and heard the stones stop rolling down their paths. She got a flicker of hope, but she kept sliding. The rocks were now free falling towards the bottom of the waterfall, and they aimed to take Anna with them. She didn't even have time to fear for her life. The rocks gathered speed, beating her against the stones as she slid until the stone to Anna's left hit an outcropping about fifty feet beneath the ledge. For a moment Anna felt no tug on her left side, but the rock to her right continued to fall until it reached the end of its tether. Anna gasped as the net transferred the entire weight of the other rock to Anna's chest, shoulders and abdomen. She was dragged back and to the right, but there was the smallest of rises in that section of the stone floor, just enough to slow her momentum, and without two rocks to pull her down, Anna stopped. Her head and neck hung over the chasm, but she was alive. The rest of her body rested on the damp ground with the weight of the rocks slowly crushing her.

Anna had to flex her every muscle just to allow space in the rope for air to enter her lungs. It was a struggle to keep from blacking out. She tried to move her arms, but the rope was so taut it felt like steel across her body. Her head pounded, and her reserves of energy were waning. With her body tight as a drum, trying to keep the weight from crushing the life out of her, Anna's mind finally attempted to catch up to the situation. Shining Sun had set a trap for her, the damned coward. He'd known that she'd get past him, but now she would slowly die within sight of his spell but unable to reach it. Anna screamed in frustration and pushed with all her might. The ropes barely moved. Then she felt the tingle at her neck again. The Mound Builder's magic was once again coming alive. Little Deer had said that it would bend to her will, and now she wanted nothing more than to get free from this net. She was trying to figure out what to do, when the sound of laugher rang out behind her. She recognized it at once, and her spirits sank.

She twisted, turned and pushed against the ropes, but it was still no use. Shining Sun stood over her, watching the display as she gave a sustained effort against the weight of the rocks. Muscles gathered under her wet skin, bulging a new. Anna rarely had to use her full strength for anything, but she put everything into this effort. Every muscle swelled to bursting. The rope lifted off her chest and she sucked in a breath, feeding fresh oxygen to her growing muscles. Anna's face flushed and her body heated up as she pushed the rope higher. Her pecs grew thick, and deep stria fanned out across the separating and crumpling muscles. Her face was a mask of pure pain and effort and still her muscles flexed harder. Her elbow straightened a little and the dangling rock rose. Shining Sun looked on in amazement. A painful gasp escaped her lips before she sucked in a sharp new breath. Anna's arms transformed from sleek and defined to ultra shredded, with every vein, every capillary throbbed to the max as her muscles churned. Anna's arms were nearly straight. She'd pressed the big rock high enough for the rope to be higher than her nose. Then Anna dug her heels in and bent her legs to draw her body backwards, trying to slide from under the net. Anna pulled herself a couple of inches, but the weight was too much for her. Her stamina gave out. The rock dropped, and the rope stretched across her chest.

Ignoring the fear he'd felt at seeing her nearly able to get free, Shining Sun chuckled and stepped where she could see him. He held her machete in his right hand and slowly rubbed the wound in his stomach with his left. "Before you came down here, One Who Wanders, I'd almost forgotten about pain. Its sting is refreshing however. How are you enjoying the pain you are in?"

Anna glared at him, her eyes hard as flint and her struggling muscles even harder. The glow from the stones around her neck intensified, and the smile fell from Shining Sun's face.

He reached down and snatched the Mound Builder's necklace from Anna's throat. A look of intense pain came over Shining Sun, and he dropped the machete when hit with a quick spasm. The pain didn't last long. He tossed the necklace over the edge. Anna felt the presence of the magic drain from her and take the last bits of hope with it. It took nearly a minute for Shining Sun to recover, but the smile returned and he looked down at Anna. "I wouldn't want their magic to save you again. Now it is just you against my entire army. Your ancestors and the Elders can help you no more. I hope you feel the emptiness that I did when I was betrayed by our people."

"Stop trying to sound righteous and justified. You are a monster, and you deserve to die!"

He tisked. "It's too bad that you couldn't kill me, One Who Wanders. I really did have a fear that you would defeat me, that you would ruin my spell and ruin all I have worked for." He stepped closer to her and leaned down.

"This isn't over!", Anna grunted the words that Shining Sun had told her earlier. "There are others here who can stop you. They are going to finish you. You couldn't beat me without this stupid trap, and like you said I'm not trained. How will you defeat them?"

Shining Sun's laugh was so condescending and so emasculating. "You were the only one who could stop me. The others are of no consequence. After the Elders' betrayal, I consulted with a spirit, and it told me that if I were to lose, that my conqueror would come from your family line. So I raised your ancestors as undead and used their blood to gain access to the spirit realm. In the guise of your kin I spoke to your ancestors. I heard tales about the great Seven Bulls, Chief Blue Jacket, and about your father Standing Bear, and about you One Who Wanders. I heard tales that you would grow up and carry on the traditions and become a great leader of our people if you lived. But most importantly for me, I found out that you were the last of your line. They spoke of no one after you. Which means that I win. Once you are dead, there will be no more who can possibly stop me. The spirit always tells the truth, and once you are dead your line is dead!" Shining Sun laughed leaned even closer.

"Then no one can touch my spell or me. But to make sure of it, I intend to kill all Shawnee starting of course with your band, the Mekoche."

"No!!", Anna screamed and tried to tug against the rope, but even the slightest flexing of her muscles nearly caused her fatigued body to cramp.

"I will kill them all, and raise them up to join my army. In a sense they will join with their brethren, joined in me."

"You'll never make it out of this valley", Anna yelled in desperation. "They are going to destroy the tunnel that leads out!"

"They already have, my dear. There was a great explosion, I am surprised that you did not hear it or feel it, but I am in tune with this valley. I know all of its secrets, natural and man made. The pass may be blocked, but there is a man made river that flows under the ground, under the hills and out to the world beyond. It is usually filled with water and waste, but now it is easily passable." Shining Sun enjoyed the look on Anna's face as he crushed another of her assumptions. It was getting tiresome however. She already looked completely defeated. Death would be a relief at this point.

"I would have preferred the dignity of walking out of this valley, but freedom is sweet no matter the path." He gently rubbed Anna's cheeks with the backs of his fingers, tracing the lines and contours and taking in her beauty one last time.

"After the trouble you have caused me, I should enjoy this kill myself, but since you made it this far, I have promised you to another. He reworked my traps, and he snared you. Come and claim your prize, my son."

Anna had to lean her head forward to catch a glimpse of the monster that shuffled closer. It stopped next to its master. Shining Sun reached out his hands and put them on the monster's shoulders. "You have served me, and I will give you more of yourself so that you can enjoy this prize… as a man should enjoy a spoil of combat."

Anna felt the power coming from Shining Sun as he altered the control of the spell over this monster, giving the zombie a modicum of self control. Anna already knew that a piece of the person remained inside the zombies, which was torture for most of them, but not for this one. Shining Sun increased this one's loyalty by giving him back a slice of free will. The hunger remained, the undeath remained, but individual thoughts returned to a point. The monster made a noise in thanks when the altering was done. It almost sounded like a word, and words would come, but for now its attention turned to Anna.

The monster walked slowly, getting closer and closer. The light was lower now since the Mound Builder's magic was gone. She saw the shoes first. They were modern, and then she saw the jeans. They were soaked in blood that had dried hard. The skin on its hands looked almost pristine and alive, but as he came closer she saw what the bites had done to him. Chunks of his flesh were missing, but he moved with a purpose. It hissed as it came closer, past Shining Sun, close enough for Anna to see the face. In the darkness, and through the pain, Anna squinted her eyes to see the horrible disfigured and eaten face. The cheeks were nearly gone. Bone showed through what was left of his chin, and his teeth showed through chewed off lips. Worst of all was his single eye, the other one gone, only a flap of optic nerve showed where it had been. Despite the trauma this monster had suffered Anna recognized it, and the nagging tentacles of fear took full hold of her.

Last chapter coming very soon!!!
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