Justice League of America - Batman: The Stone King by Alan Grant (best english novels to read .txt) 📗

The spotlight marking their path, Ferzal led them over toward the rough-hewn rock enclosure that housed the mighty Sphinx, the most enigmatic of all ancient monuments. Its red sandstone blocks almost glowed in the fast-fading sunlight, changing to purple as the shadows deepened.

Ferzal was about to drop a few pearls of wisdom regarding its age and pedigree when he heard a startled shout from one of the others: Cindy's husband, Don, the lanky bookworm. Ferzal hoped he hadn't tripped and hurt himself.

But Don was looking back at the Great Pyramid. Cobalt blue flames poured from its top and ran down the limestone casing like dry ice, rushing down to the ground below.

Ferzal and the others turned to run, but an avalanche of swirling cold fire engulfed them before they'd gone twenty yards.

All over the world, the sacred sites of the ancients began to reenergize.

At Carnac in northern France, location of the world's largest collection of menhirs, blue light blasted from more than a thousand standing stones.

In Spain, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria, hidden caves that knew the dreams and spells of sorcerers before the Ice Age were bathed in violet waves. Those few people in the caves–spelunkers and a University of Vienna anthropology team–suffocated within seconds.

The once-holy Mediterranean island of Malta was engulfed in a green mist that seeped from the ancient, subterranean Goddess sanctuaries.

Lhasa, Tibet's holiest city, lit up in the biggest "fireworks" display ever seen.

In Russia and China, throughout Japan and Southeast Asia, forces that had slumbered for millennia awakened and threatened to bring disaster in their wake.

Fear is the messenger, not the message.

Cassandra heard the words as dearly and distinctly as if Batman was in Grandma's apartment.

Like empathy, she thought, fear is a gift. An early warning system. But it's not meant to paralyze. It's supposed to spur you to action. Fight or flight. Your choice. But do something. If you fail to act, your fear will claim you.

Slowly, fearfully, determinedly, Cassandra opened her eyes. Grandma had disappeared. Cassandra looked out the window, her heart pumping with terror at what she would see, but knowing that she had to see it. The bull-headed man had grown to colossal size, until he bestrode the planet. The shrieking of a billion people filled the air. The mountains split open and rolled over everything below, while new peaks burst up from the sea.

"No!" Cassandra screamed, "Never, never, never!" Far away, she heard a voice. "Dr. Valerian! She's awake!"

CHAPTER 13

Battle Lines

The teleporter disgorged Batman and J'onn J'onzz within fifty yards of where the base of the Gotham pyramid had been.

It was a beautiful autumn evening, the air crisp and fresh, the sky painted with stars. An almost full moon was rising in the east, its bright light shrouded by a mass of dark clouds low on the horizon. Somewhere in the distance, a fox was barking.

Batman stood staring for a full minute, as if determination alone would enable him to tell if the pyramid was really there or not. Finally, he shook his head.

"If it's there," he admitted, "I'm not seeing it."

"You're not alone," Manhunter replied. He had scanned the site with his peculiar Martian vision, which allowed him to see through virtually any object. "None of my senses is picking up anything out of the ordinary."

"I guess there's only one way to find out."

Batman walked ahead in a straight line, stepping over the barrier erected by the police when they closed off the site. His penlight picked out a path through the low scrub bushes and rough grass. Even with the aid of the infrared lenses in his mask, he could see little except the ground beneath his feet and the steep-sided riverbank ahead.

J'onn watched his companion, his eyes never leaving him. Suddenly, there was a flash of color, as if the air itself had rippled and moved aside.

Batman disappeared from view.

"It's here all right, J'onn," Manhunter heard the vigilante call.

The Martian moved forward, a tingle of static electricity caressing his green skin as he walked through the unseen barrier and joined Batman on the other side.

The pyramid rose before them, its massive bulk blotting out half the night sky.

"Refracted light waves," Batman said quietly. "The thing's invisible until you're in front of it."

J'onn's feet left the ground, and he hovered in the air above the grass. He was able to fly using his telekinetic abilities, the power of his mind alone carrying him through the air.

"Going up?" he asked.

Batman shook his head. "I'll climb, thanks."

Like Cassandra, who had been taught by her grandmother, Batman had an incredible eye for detail. On the previous trip to the pyramid, he had committed as much of its layout and setting to memory as he could. He wanted to confirm that knowledge now and get his bearings, before rushing into confrontation with their dangerous foe.

"The hidden chamber was on the fifth course," he told J'onn as he began to clamber up the pyramid's side, the Martian hovering close to him. Here and there tufts of parched grass grew between the stones. "We should check it out before we do anything else."

"I can use my telepathy," J'onn suggested, "to probe the Stone King's mind. If he's here, that is. It might give us an insight into how to tackle him."

"Too risky." Batman clambered onto the third course, springing over the flat-packed stone to reach the next part of the upward climb. "If he realizes what's going on, it'll alert him to our presence. Judging by what happened last time, he's likely to come out on top in any confrontation. Best if we keep the element of surprise on our side."

The words were hardly out of Batman's mouth when he realized that the element of surprise had already been lost. Even as he reached out for a handhold to haul himself up onto the pyramid's next ledge, something was forming in the air above him. A patch of what he'd taken to be night mist began to swirl and take on