The Eternal Call: The Finale

Months later, the story of the brotherhood had been forgotten and Grandpa had moved on to a new tale about blood sucking aliens to captivate the children.  He had been sitting in his recliner, working on the plot while the children were at school when the phone rang.  After a quick word to his wife, he dashed out to his car and took off down the street.  He drove as quickly as possible to Erica’s office and went inside to find her.  Moments later they were racing down the freeway, Erica’s face was as white as snow.  Hours later, they reached the VA hospital and a kind nurse escorted them to the room.  Tears streamed down Erica’s face as she looked at her husband lying in the bed before her.  The nurse tapped John’s shoulder and he opened his eyes. 

            “Hiya, baby,” He mumbled groggily.  “God, I’ve missed you.”

In a flash she was by his side, hugging him, crying and laughing all at the same time.  The old man and the nurse stepped out into the hall to give the couple a few moments of privacy.  After a while, he poked his head in the room and Erica waved him in.  John struggled to sit up then shook hands with his father in law.  The moment their palms touched it sent a jolt through their arms like a zing of electricity.  William looked down at his son in law’s palm and immediately recognized the identical scar on John’s palm.  They looked into each other’s eyes and nodded.  Now, they were more than father/son in law, they were brothers.  

The Eternal Call: Part 20

For a few moments, she could not find her voice.  She just stared at the scar. 

            “Are you going to let me have that cocoa anytime soon?” The old man laughed.

He removed his hand from her grasp and slipped his fingers through the mug’s handle.  He savored the warmth and creamy sweetness of his drink and hoped his daughter’s focus would redirect from his hand to her cocoa.  She took a seat, cradling the mug in her hands and thinking about what she wanted to say.

            “Dad, I couldn’t help but notice you named some of the characters after your friends.”  Erica mused.  “It’s been a while since I’ve seen them… but I remember Demetrios and I’m guessing Eleon is for your friend Leon.  Come to think of it, you have a friend named Linus too.”

            “You’re beating around the bush, little girl.  I suspect there’s something else you mean to ask me, so get on with it.  It’s almost my bedtime too.”

He gave his daughter a wink then took another sip of his drink.  He was proud of the way her mind worked, always thinking ahead, always planning and working out problems.  She got that from me, he thought, grinning. 

            “So does that mean P.J. is actually Praxis?” She asked, half laughing yet hoping he would not confirm her statement.

            “Nothing gets by you, does it? Praxis isn’t a popular name anymore so P.J. seems to be a better fit nowadays.  Now, are you really sure you want to go barking up this particular tree?  I’m not so convinced you’ll want to hear this.”

            “C’mon, Dad, you’re not really going to tell me that you’re a member of The Brotherhood of Eternal Glory and you’re going to live forever.  Obviously, that’s not the case because you’ve clearly aged over the years so… nice try.” 

The old man smiled, placed a kiss on his daughter’s head and bid her good night.  He shuffled off to the bathroom to brush his teeth and put on his pajamas.  He removed the stage makeup that gave him wrinkles and dark spots to camouflage his flawless skin then combed the sprayed-in gray out of his hair.  That night in his dreams, he relived his induction into the brotherhood forty-five years ago.  There in Vietnam, his squad was under heavy fire.  Reinforcements came to their aid only they had not realized it was the brotherhood.  He was sharing a foxhole with the two remaining members of his squad and four captains named Demetrios, Leon (he had dropped the E by then) P.J. and Linus.  The captains had been impressed by the young men’s bravery and integrity so they shared a little bit about a secret society to which they belonged.  The young man named William was intrigued though there was a small tidbit of information that the captains had withheld.  They had neglected to mention the part about being unable to die because they’d been cursed to fight evil for all eternity.  Emboldened by poetic words about battling evil, tyranny and oppression, William pledged to join their brotherhood.  He’d willingly pricked his palm with the strange curved blade and the four captains welcomed him with open arms.  Shortly after, an air attack dropped bombs all around them.  When William opened his eyes, there were craters and body parts strewn across the countryside yet he and the four captains were completely unharmed.  It was then that they dropped their own bomb on him.  He had a pretty new bride waiting for him at home so his reception to the news was mixed.  It was after he’d been discharged that his new “brothers” taught him techniques to appear to age over the years. He’d never told anyone, not even his wife about his secret.  When he woke, he knew he could not reveal the truth to Erica either.  He resolved to tell her he was only making up a fun story for the kids so he used the name of his friends and took advantage of his strange looking scar for embellishment.    

The Eternal Call: Part 19

The next day after school, the children dashed inside and, after cramming food into their mouths, disappeared to get their homework finished.  Their mother was delighted that they’d been given enough motivation that they were completing their assignments without having to be told.  She secretly hoped their new habit would last.  Finally, when it was time, they all filed into the living room for the next installment of the story. The boys were whispering together while young Maddie pouted.  After their grandfather was settled in his favorite chair, the boys handed over a drawing they’d worked together to complete.  It was their own rendition of the brotherhood’s coat of arms.  They had excluded their little sister, primarily because her skills were not as refined as theirs but also because, as they reminded her, it was a “brotherhood” not a sisterhood.  Balancing on the fine line that only a grandparent can successfully navigate, their grandfather both praised their artwork yet gently reprimanded them for excluding their sister. 

            “Above all,” he reminded them, “the brotherhood was about honor and defeating evil.  They fought to ensure freedom and embrace all that represents unity, dignity and grace.  Oppression of any kind is against their creed.”   

The boys stared at floor; guilt had furrowed lines in their foreheads and tugged the corners of their mouths down.  Their muttered apologies were met with a genuine smile.  Maddie held no grudges.  She hoped Grandpa’s words would encourage the boys to include her more often and that made her happy.  She even praised her brothers’ drawings and they agreed she would be allowed to hang it in her room.  The old man‘s wife smiled, appreciating her husband’s subtle correction to the boys behavior.  He had softened some over the years but he still managed to get his point across.  As he returned to the story, his audience settled in. 

            ‘Now, let’s see…” He muttered.  “The remaining men made their oaths and joined their brother in arms for eternity.  He was so caught up in the grandeur, even the young village boy rushed forward to join with the others. Many of the soldiers tried to talk him out of it but by the evening, he had officially joined their ranks.  He had whimpered just a little when the sharp blade pierced his skin but the boy refrained from repeating the blubbering he had demonstrated earlier to the captains.  He watched with wide-eyed fascination as his wound sealed, as if an invisible hand had cauterized the wound.  Within minutes, it had raised into the peculiar shaped scar the others bore.”

            “Did the scar hurt them?”  The children asked. 

The old man paused, giving careful consideration to their question.  Subconsciously, his finger pressed the palm of his right hand and massaged tiny circles there.

            “Well, it didn’t exactly hurt.”  He answered.  “It’s just something they were aware of after it healed.  More like an itch than pain.”

He moved on, telling the children about a particularly gruesome battle between the brotherhood and a band of cruel slavers who kidnapped young children from their beds and sold them to foreign lands.  The battle was bloody and sword fighting dramatic.  The children cheered as the wretched slavers were slayed and the brotherhood proceeded to track down every single kidnapped slave.  By the time the very last slave was returned to his or her family, it was bedtime.  Erica tucked her young ones into bed then went in search of her father.  She found him relaxing in his recliner, paging through a catalogue. 

            “I was going to make myself a cup of cocoa…do you want one too?”

He smiled and nodded.  When she returned she was carrying two mugs.  She set hers down on a coaster and handed the other to her dad.  He reached out his hand to take the mug but before he could grasp the handle, she clasped his hand and turned it over.  She stared at his palm and, for the first time, she looked closely at the small scar.  It was dark and formed a curious question mark shape, minus the dot.  She said nothing as she continued to examine the strange mark, silently assuring herself it was merely a story he’d made up.  A master storyteller would have no trouble concocting a fanciful story around a unique scar, her inner voice insisted.  Yet a small part of her felt fearful that there could be some truth to the tale.  

The Eternal Call: Part 18

Side by side the four captains walked back to the village with the boy trailing along.  Still fearful that they might decide to slit his throat, he lagged behind, keeping a wary eye on soldiers.  The captains had already called their men to attention by the time the boy reached the town square.  He watched as Demetrios calmly explained their predicament to the others.  Again, he suspected rage, fury and perhaps violence but the soldiers were men of valor.  They did not spiral into hatred or lash out in anger.  They accepted their fate with courage and honor.  It was only when Demetrios gave the order for those whose fate had not been sealed to leave did the outcry of objection sound.  There was a resounding “No”, called out from those free of the curse.

            “What happened next shocked the captains.  The young villager nearly fainted,” Grandpa expounded. 

His audience was captivated.  The children stared up at him, holding their breath in anticipation.  Erica kept checking her watch as the second hand ticked on and on past the children’s bedtime.  She gave her father the universal symbol for hurry up and he nodded.  Just to see their reaction, he made a dramatic show of looking at his own wristwatch.

            “Oh my!” He exclaimed.  “It’s way past your bedtime.  I guess we can pick up here tomorrow.” 

            “Dad!”  Erica squealed.  “That’s not funny.  You tell them what was so shocking first and then bedtime.  You used to do that to me all the time when I was little and it drove me crazy.  I’d be up all night wondering.  I am not going to stand by while you rob my kids of their sleep.  So, out with it!  What was it that shocked the captains and nearly made the village idiot faint?”  

The children cheered and the old man laughed at Erica’s outburst.  Even Grandma came in to see what the commotion was all about. 

            “I was only teasing,” the old man laughed.  “I just wanted to see if the kids were still paying attention, that’s all.  No need to get so worked up, Erica.  Now, when the other men realized that their comrades were cursed, I’ll bet you were thinking they’d be relieved.  Most people would have breathed a sigh of relief and high-tailed it out of there, thankful to be spared.  Well, these men had all fought side by side with each other and developed a bond a tight as brothers. The ones who had avoided the cursed blade before were overwhelmed with guilt.  All of them had repeated the words because they believed in their cause and they believed in each other but some of them had chosen not to pierce their skin either because they felt it was unsanitary or they didn’t much care for the sight of blood.  Unwilling to abandon their brothers to fight, the men demanded Eleon’s tainted blade.  When he refused, they rushed forward and snatched the knife from him and bound themselves to the brotherhood for eternity.  It was that day that they came up with the name: The Brotherhood of Eternal Glory.  One of the men was commissioned to create a coat of arms, sigil, and emblems to represent their new crusade against evil.  Their banners were a deep crimson to represent the blood they freely offered emblazoned with a black curved blade of the demon horn knife.  Once it had been a symbol of evil but their pledge made it a symbol of hope and honor.  They embroidered the name of the brotherhood in a gold thread to represent both purity and refinement through fire.  From that day forward, all men of the brotherhood could be identified by the unique scar on the palm of their right hand and the badge of their order.”

Despite wanting to hear more, the children trudged off to bed while the old man fixed himself a cup of tea.  

The Eternal Call: Part 17

Though the other three captains insisted Eleon was not to blame, he could not dismiss the fact that the fault belonged squarely on his own shoulders.  If there was a way to undo the curse, Eleon resolved to find it and free his brothers in arms. 

            “I think we need to have a meeting with the men this evening.” Praxis decided.  “It is only right that we share what we have learned.  I think we should also release those who are not cursed.  We cannot drag them into the battles we will be facing especially since we cannot die but they undoubtedly will.”

The others quickly agreed; it was best to get everyone on the same page as soon as possible.  Despite Eleon’s insistence that he be the one to break the news, the other three decided that Demetrios would be best suited for the task.  All the while, the young villager watched the captains with admiration.  They had not turned on each other in the wake of tragic news.  Instead, they banded together even closer and rather than point fingers, they extended the hand of friendship.  

The Eternal Call: Part 16

            “Oh!  I almost forgot. There’s more. He said that knife you’ve got there isn’t really a knife.  It’s a demon’s horn.  So, when you made that vow and sealed it with blood it bound you for all of eternity to your words.”  The boy eyed the weapon warily, taking a step back.  “Why would you go and do a thing like that?”

            “Obviously, we didn’t know this was a demon horn full of black magic and that our words would be used as a curse to bind us to this Earth until the end of time.” Eleon snapped back harshly.  “I can’t believe I’ve done this to you, brothers.  There must be a way to release all of you.  Were it not for my pride and my vain attempt to inspire the men, none of you would be in this mess.  I promise you, I will find…”

In an attempt to lighten the severity of the moment, Linus reached out and snatched the horn-dagger from Eleon’s hand. 

            “Cut that out!”  Linus laughed, playfully punching his friend’s shoulder.  “No more promises while this infernal thing exists or who knows what sorcery will befall us. Come now, there is no fault here.  You did not force anyone to follow your lead.  We believed in your words then and we still do now.  ”  

The Eternal Call: Part 15

The boy nodded but it took several long minutes before he spoke again.  First he picked at a frayed thread in his tunic, then he stuffed another chunk of bread in his mouth and finally, after a long gulp from the jug, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

            “Just remember, you wanted to know.”  He insisted, sounding like a petulant child.  “Once I tell you, I can’t take it back no matter how much you want me to and I just know you’re gonna be mad.  You’re gonna kill me and that’s not fair.  Why did I have to live through all of that just for you to kill me now?” 

The boy dissolved into tears, sobbing loudly as the captains stared at him incredulously. 

            “No one said anything about killing you, son.” Demetrious asserted.  “Now pull yourself together and quit all that blubbering.  One would think you were a maiden by the way you’re carrying on.” 

            “How do I know you won’t slit my throat as soon as I’ve finished?  You’re swords are sharp and I’m unarmed.” He balked. 

In an effort to appease the boy and finally find out what was going on, the four captains laid down their weapons and walked with the still-whimpering boy until he felt safer.  With a good twenty feet between them and the closest sword, the boy’s fears diminished.  He took a deep breath, nodded and closed his eyes.

            “You’re not dead.”  He blurted, raising his hands to protect himself from the imagined onslaught. 

            “Yes, we’re aware,” Praxis laughed.  “The fact that we’re walking, talking and breathing has not eluded us.  That was your dire news?  All that nonsense to tell us we’re not dead?  Are you quite certain you’re not a little girl after all?”

            “No, you don’t understand.  You should be.  You died, all of you died.  Your flesh melted from your bones and cooled into charred blobs on the ground.  Many of you were mortally wounded and bled out but now you’re walking around like nothing happened.  The warrior leader said you’re cursed.  You’ll die a million deaths but keep going on, forced to battle evil until the end of time.  He said the blade was full of dark magic and it turned your oath into a curse.  He said for you to look at your hands.”

 The captains’ laughter ceased at the mere mention of dark magic.  Slowly, Demetrious turned his hand over for all to inspect.  There in his palm, just over the spot where the curved blade had bit into his flesh was a raised and twisted scar resembling the implement that caused it.  Contrary to typical scars, this one was not red or even purple, this scar was black as night-as black as the magic that tainted them.  One by one, each of the captains held out their hands and each had the same dark mark.  Eleon, who had kept the strange, curved blade as token of their symbolic pledge, removed the cursed piece from his pocket.  Turing it over and over in his hand, the blade seemed almost alive.  The swirls of deep crimson flowing from shaft to point seemed all the more sinister, as if their own life’s blood was now fused to the knife.  

****Please return for Part 16 on Monday, November 25th****