Trey Roberts and the Ancient Relics

by Lee Magnus

  “Who’s there?” Donald repeated.

  Trey looked again at Don who was frozen then said reluctantly, “It’s me, Donald. It’s Trey.”

  A series of locks turned. Donald said angrily as he opened the door, “Roberts! What the heck are you –“

  Donald’s angry face turned to shock. Don and his son stared at each other for a very brief moment not saying a word.

  Donald’s face then became red and angry. Trey thought he saw tears welling in his eyes just before Donald rushed to his father, gripping him tightly in a loving embrace.

  “Dad! You came home! I knew you would! I knew you would come home,” he repeated with his face planted in Don’s narrow chest.

  Don’s eyes welled. A river of emotions flowed from his soul dampening his beard and draining onto Donald’s head. He grasped the thick boy and said, “I’ll never leave you again, Little Don.”

  “Donald, who is it?” said a woman’s voice from inside.

  Don looked up, “Clara.”

  The thin woman with hair askew stared through the doorway. Donald released his father so Don could reunite with his mother. They shared a long passionate kiss. She then hit him hard on the arm and slapped him in the face.

  “I’ve missed you so much. Where’ve you been? Why’d you leave us? Where’d you go?” she said as she kissed him after each question.

  “Let’s go inside. I’ll tell you all about it.” He followed her hand in hand inside the small apartment.

  Donald turned to Trey after watching his parent’s reunion. “You did this? You brought my dad home?”

  Trey began to speak but before he could utter a syllable, Donald hugged him. He hugged him in a pleasant loving and slightly painful manner.

  “Thank you for finding my dad,” he said still holding him tightly. He released Trey but kept his hands on each of Trey’s shoulders. He spoke sincerely, “I’m sorry I’ve been so mean to you. I never told you, but I thought your dad had something to do with my dad’s disappearance.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “They both left around the same time. Plus, my mom suspected he was cheating on her so she had someone follow him – a P.I. type guy. He found out that they both knew the same lady.”

  Trey’s stomach fell. “The same lady?”

  “Yeah. A tall dark-haired woman. My mom keeps the pictures in one of her drawers. There’s only one of the three of them together. She thought your dad introduced her to mine and he ran off with her.”

  Trey’s mind raced. He could barely keep up with the conversation. “Yeah. I guess I can see how you would think that,” he said distantly. He pulled himself back to Donald. “And now I understand the rumors. You don’t have to worry about her. She helped me find him.”

  “You know her too?”

  “I’ve just met her this week. He didn’t run off with her.”

  “That’s good to know. I’ll tell mom what you said. Thank you for bringing him home. Let’s hang out next week. I’d like to try to make up for the past few years.”

  “I’d like that Donald. Now get back to your dad. He has lots of stories to share. Some of it might sound a little crazy but I promise, it’s all true.”

  “Okay, Roberts. Whatever you say.”

  Donald smacked him with an open hand lightly on the shoulder then joined his mom and dad.

  Trey stayed in the walkway a moment after Donald closed the door, reflecting on the beautiful reunification. He reflected on his new friend and how he wouldn’t have to worry about getting into a fight at school or being tormented in history class. But mostly, he wondered how his father was involved in all of this and why he never told him any of it. He wondered if this was the reason he left. He wondered why Lyza lied to him about knowing his father.

  Don suddenly emerged from the apartment. “I’m glad you’re still here. I wanted to thank you again for finding me and encouraging me to come home. I was stupid for thinking those things back in Highlands.”

  Pop, Pop, Spark. Tessie appeared on Trey’s shoulder.

  “Hey, Tessie. Did you come to say goodbye?”

  “Pop, Pop.”

  Trey scooped her into his hands then nuzzled her fur. Low voltage heated his cheek. “I’ll miss you too.

  “Snap, Whistle, Pop!”

  “Of course, I’ll see you again.” He looked at Don, “Won’t I?”

  “Can you understand what she’s saying?” Don said surprised.

  “Yes.”

  “But how?”

  “We can talk about that another day.”

  “Yes. Yes, you will see her again. Soon. We have lots to do.”

  “I have a soccer game this weekend. If you like soccer, you can bring her then.”

  Don smiled proudly, “I’d love to, Trey. We’ll be there.”

  Trey snuggled Tessie one more time before she popped back to Don.

  “Bye, Tessie.”

  She returned a pop and a low to high whistle.

  “See you Saturday, Mr. Smith!”

  “I’ll see you Saturday!” Don replied as Trey turned toward the stairs.

  Trey turned back and smiled.

  Trey emerged from the apartment building to find Nick cutting up with the two men on the steps.

  “Making new friends, Mr. H?”

  “You know me. Trey, this is Lamar and Roderick.”

  “Nice to meet you two,” Trey said extending a hand to each.

  Lamar grabbed his hand twisted it into a chest bump (Trey caught on) they slapped palms then back hands, spun around then high fived.

  “Right on! You’re a cool dude, Trey.”

  Roderick did the hand slap then threw a hand over his shoulder like he tossed something away combined with a pshhh sound with Trey in time.

  Trey turned to Nick, “Can we get me home now?”

  “Sure, Trey.”

  “Later guys!” Nick hollered as he opened the car door.

  “Peace!” Lamar yelled while Roderick just gave a high wave.

  Nick turned into Trey’s drive, “You need me to come in?”

  “No. I’m good. Thanks for asking. Later Mr. H!” Trey said as he jumped out. He tore into the house, aggressively hugged his mom who was standing in the kitchen with Aunt Kathy and said, “I’m so happy to see you!”

  “I’m happy to see you too,” she said with a confused look. “And what is this? A sword? Why on earth would you have a sword?”

  “I hope you had a good time at Marcus’ the last two nights,” Kathy interrupted from the table.

  Trey looked at Kathy with a questioning glance.

  “Did you finish that project you two were working on?” Kathy continued.

  Trey looked again at his mom then back to Kathy. “Uhh yeah, the project. It was a last-minute thing that we needed to finish up. The, uh, sword is part of it. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you,” he said to his mom.

  “I noticed you left your phone. I thought you’d come by to get it. You could have used his phone to text or something.”

  “I know mom. I’m sorry. We just got so caught up in the, um,” he fidgeted with his feet, “project. I’ll do better next time.”

  “I know you will Sweet T. I hope you had a good day at school today. You can tell me about your project later,” she said. She looked out the window, then said, “Is that Mr. Hampton in that fancy car? Ummm, mmm, that car looks good on him. It’s about time they started paying teachers better.”

  “I don’t understand what’s going on, Aunt Kathy,” Trey asked after his mom left the room.

  “Lyza told me what happened so I took your mom to my house the night of the attack. We had some wine and she fell asleep. I sent a few people to the house that night to clean up before she awoke.”

  “Fell asleep or drugged?”

  “I had to keep her safe. She wouldn’t have believed the truth and would’ve been frightened about the house.”

  “They did a pretty good job. It was really messed up from what I remember,”
said Trey. “I learned a lot about grandpa today and a little about dad. What else do you know?”

  “I think you know more than I at this point. But let’s get together this weekend. I would love to catch up. It’s late and you’ve had a rough time. Get some rest and we’ll talk about it later.”

  “Okay. Thank you for keeping mom safe.”

  “I’d do anything for you and your mother, Trey. Disturbing times are ahead. You just do as Lyza says and we’ll all be okay. Okay?”

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  “Sleep well Trey. I’ll see you this weekend. Go Pirates!”

  “Thanks Aunt Kathy,” he said after a big hug.

  Dream

  Trey Roberts settled in his room after showering off the day. He sat in a chair and stared at the sword he acquired from a flying cat-man.

  This has to be a dream, he thought. There’s no way I did all these things: fought a bunch of scary undead goblins with a mysterious woman named Lyza, befriended an electric furball, was captured and escaped from Centaurs, defeated a multi-sized bug in a riddle contest, teleported to Egypt, China and the Highlands.

  Trey shivered as he thought about the Etherios where he had an ominous conversation with his Grandpa’s spirit then finished off befriending a dragon.

  This is completely unreal, as he continued with his thoughts, I mean look, the house looks as if nothing happened there are no rogglets or enormous snakes. Teleportation doesn’t exist. I’ll wake soon and be freaked out at how real this dream was.

  He gathered the disk artefact he pulled from the snake demon, the Discolursor Annular that revealed Seth’s true form, the bag holding the key to the Etherios spirit realm, an odd shaped gold coin and a small case containing a fireproof, an energy and a cloaking potion. He then placed them all into the chair next to the sword. He removed the picture of him and his father from a drawer and displayed it on his nightstand. After a few minutes he fell asleep from exhaustion.

  Trey stood yards away from the edge of a desolate cliff which rose above an ancient bustling city a distance below. It was surrounded by desert. Sitting together, a woman and infant sang a pleasant song amid sand colored structures. A thin lonely cloud drifted in the distance. A small grey bird stared keenly.

  Trey asked, “What is it bird? What do you say?”

  A whispered thought of foreboding. An image of a man, no something much worse, a red demon with flaming sword in hand.

  “Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!” screamed the bird hopping up and down.

  Instant fire and destruction ravaged the city. Screams of women and crying babies filled Trey’s heart. The long dark face of the demon turned. Blood red creases painted stony cheeks. Black hole eyes, as if no light could escape, transitioned to yellow with crimson pupils. Proud of his deed, the scarlet demon raised the sword toward the cliff of which Trey helplessly stood. A blinding bolt of plasma blasted Trey into consciousness.

  “Treeeeey! Treeeeeey, it’s tiiiime to wake uuuuuup!” he heard his mom sing from down the hall on a peaceful Friday morning. He opened his eyes slowly and shivered off the surreal dream. Rubbing them clear he focused on the sword leaning against the chair where he left it the night before. He tossed his head back and said, “It can’t be real! There’s no way! Arggg!”

  Until Next Week

  Trey’s adventure continues in…

  The Ancestor’s Wish

  Nick’s Secret

  Trey Roberts settled in his room after showering off the day. He sat in a chair and stared at the sword he acquired from a flying cat-man.

  This has to be a dream, he thought. There’s no way I did all these things: fought a bunch of scary undead goblins with a mysterious woman named Lyza, befriended an electric furball, was captured and escaped from Centaurs, defeated a multi-sized bug in a riddle contest, teleported to Egypt, China and the Highlands.

  Trey shivered as he thought about the Etherios where he had an ominous conversation with his Grandpa’s spirit then finished off befriending a dragon.

  This is completely unreal, as he continued with his thoughts, I mean look, the house looks as if nothing happened there are no rogglets or enormous snakes. Teleportation doesn’t exist. I’ll wake soon and be freaked out at how real this dream was.

  He gathered the disk artifact he pulled from the snake demon, the Discolursor Annular that revealed Seth’s true form, the bag holding the key to the Etherios spirit realm, an odd shaped gold coin and a small case containing a fireproof, an energy and a cloaking potion. He then placed them all into the chair next to the sword. He removed the picture of him and his father from a drawer and displayed it on his nightstand. After a few minutes he fell asleep from exhaustion.

  Trey stood yards away from the edge of a desolate cliff which rose above an ancient bustling city a distance below. It was surrounded by desert. Sitting together, a woman and infant sang a pleasant song amid sand colored structures. A thin lonely cloud drifted in the distance. A small grey bird stared keenly.

  Trey asked, “What is it bird? What do you say?”

  A whispered thought of foreboding. An image of a man, no something much worse, a red demon with flaming sword in hand.

  “Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!” screamed the bird hopping up and down.

  Instant fire and destruction ravaged the city. Screams of women and crying babies filled Trey’s heart. The long dark face of the demon turned. Blood red creases painted stony cheeks. Black hole eyes, as if no light could escape, transitioned to yellow with crimson pupils. Proud of his deed, the scarlet demon raised the sword toward the cliff of which Trey helplessly stood. A blinding bolt of plasma blasted Trey into consciousness.

  “Treeeeey! Treeeeeey, it’s tiiiime to wake uuuuuup!” he heard his mom sing from down the hall on a peaceful Friday morning. He opened his eyes slowly and shivered off the surreal dream. Rubbing them clear he focused on the sword leaning against the chair where he left it the night before. He tossed his head back and said, “It can’t be real! There’s no way! Arggg!”

  “Trey? Did you say something?”

  “No Mom!”

  “Hurry up, breakfast is getting cold!”

  The small house overflowed with aromas of sage and biscuits. Trey’s stomach roared.

  “Ok! Be there in a minute!”

  He looked back at the pile of items in the chair and became startled when he noticed something was missing. “Olerand’s Disk! Where is it!”

  He looked on and around the chair. Nothing.

  “Where’d it go?”

  Trey ran down the hall, “Mom! Have you seen -” He brushed the pocket of his red and black checkered flannel lounge pants. “What’s this?”

  He pulled out the disk.

  “Did I put that there?” he said confused. “I thought I left it on the chair.”

  “What was that, Trey? Do you need something?” him mom asked from the kitchen.

  “Uh, no mom. Sorry.”

  He put the disk back in his pocket, then joined his mom for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits and smoked sausage.

  “Thanks, mom. Breakfast is great,” he said stuffing a piece of sausage into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in three days – which was mostly accurate.

  She stepped from the sink, set her hands on her hips and said with contempt, “Did you leave your manners back at Marcus’? Use a fork, please.”

  He mumbled with a mouth full of food, “Sorry, Mom. I just forgot how hungry I was. Why the big breakfast anyway?”

  “No reason. I’ve barely seen you these past few days. I missed you and just wanted to do something nice.”

  “It’s nice. Thanks,” he said smiling then forked in another piece of sausage.

  Trey set his fork down while he struggled with a strong thought. He then asked, “Mom?”

  She sat next to him and said, “What’s bothering you, Sweet T?”

  He temporarily felt abashed with the nickname. It usually didn’t bother him (he normally welcomed it) but somehow, today, he felt a littl
e too grown up for the childish name. He brushed his feelings aside and asked, “Did you know Mr. Smith? Don Smith?”

  She studied her son, “No. I never met him. I’ve only met Clara once. She was very nice at the time and never mentioned her husband.”

  Trey thought she seemed to be holding back details.

  “You know? The rumors aren’t true.” He continued with his breakfast.

  She seemed ashamed but may have been more surprised that Trey knew what she was thinking.

  “Rumors? What do you mean?” she said as if she didn’t already know.

  “Mom,” Trey said frustrated. “I know everyone thinks he left her for another woman. It’s not true.”

  “And how do you know that?” she asked like she didn’t expect an answer.

  “He came home yesterday.”

  “Oh-my-god,” she said slowly. Her eyes were buggy. “After all this time?” She looked off in the distance. She returned her attention to her thirteen-year-old son. “How do you know that?”

  “I, uh, found him – I mean, I found out, uh…” He struggled for the words. He hadn’t expected to be questioned today about how he rescued Don from a dragon in another world with the help of his dead Grandpa. “I, uh, Nick! I mean, Mr. H told me on the way home last night.” He breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Mr. Hampton? Really?”

  “Yeah. He, uh, said he found him while travelling in Egypt.”

  “Egypt? What was Don doing there? What was Mr. Hampton doing there?”

  “He, didn’t say,” Trey replied with evasive eyes.

  “Huh.” She said. “Imagine that. You never know what to expect from day to day do you?”

  Trey couldn’t hold in an uncomfortable chuckle, “You sure are right about that, Mom.”

  “So, why all this talk about Mr. Smith? What does he have to do with you?”

  Trey shifted in the seat. He chopped his eggs slowly. His next words were difficult to say – as were all the times before since his dad left them. “Did you know that Dad and Don knew each other?”