by Otto Schafer
James swallowed and nodded.
Syldan’s strange yellow eyes bore into Garrett’s own as he held his gaze. “I’m… afraid I can’t… stay any longer…” He shifted his eyes to David and smiled. “Thanks for trying to fix this old soldier, David, but I have fought my last battle.”
Tears spilled freely down David’s cheeks despite his efforts to keep them in check.
“Listen to me, all of you,” he said, his eyes now fixed on Lenny. “You boys must do this together… Win or lose, the sages stay together… no matter how bad it gets. You are all Turek’s chosen. Remember that… all of you. Syldan grabbed at Lenny and pulled him close. “Lenny,” he rasped, his own eyes filling with tears now, “I am so proud of you. Never forget that.” The dökkálfar smiled and squeezed Lenny’s hand. Then he closed his eyes. “I’m going… home.”
Lenny’s mouth pressed tight, but his brow hinted at confusion.
Garrett’s eyebrows knitted together. “Coach! Wait! Please!”
Coach Dagrun – the dökkálfar elf, Prince Syldan, son of King Vulmon Loravaris, named heir to the throne of Osonian, Dragon Master, military war hero, and cross-country coach – exhaled his final breath and died.
James pulled the blanket up and gently covered Syldan’s face.
Except for the soft sound of David’s muffled sobs, the room fell into a heavy silence.
Garrett finally broke the stillness by unfolding the paper Coach had given him. Inside the folded parchment was what looked like a large gold dollar coin. It was round and golden but way thicker than a coin. On both sides were weird markings.
“Let me see it, Garrett?” David asked, pawing at his eyes. He studied the object for a moment, flipping it over in his hand. “It’s covered in runes like your arms.”
“What does it mean?” Lenny asked.
David’s mustache, wet with tears, twitched. “I have no idea. I can’t read elvish runes. But I bet it is a magical item of some kind.”
Lenny snatched it from David, frowning as he studied the strange symbols. “Maybe the note says something about it.” He nodded toward the paper.
Garret began to read.
Garrett,
I don’t know how much longer I can hold on, so I write you now in case I don’t make it to see you again. I live on the corner of North Twelfth and Harris. In the basement of my home, on the east wall, is a tunnel that was part of the Underground Railroad. It’s covered by wood paneling that you will have to remove to gain access. Go inside and follow the tunnel as far as you can. There is a small room at the back. In the room, next to a desk, you will find an old trunk and inside it a diary. I want you to have it.
I began writing it some time ago in the hopes I could pass it on to my own child someday. I see now this will never be, so I ask that you take it. It will contain many answers you seek. But be warned, you will discover truths inside that may change your opinion of me. I won’t make excuses for everything I’ve done and can only say I have made difficult decisions that I thought were in the best interest of those involved. Keep what you learn to yourself until the time is right. When that time comes, I know you will do the right thing.
The Eyra of Tunga is one of the few items I brought with me to this world. Someday, you and your sages may find it useful.
—Coach
The room fell quiet for a moment that seemed to stretch out. Garrett reflected on the time he had spent with Coach. The first day he met him, and just a few days ago when he’d made him captain of the cross-country team. Finally, he raised his head, “Goodbye, Coach.”
“Bye, Coach,” Lenny repeated.
“Bye, Coach,” David choked out.
Lenny drew in a deep breath and rubbed a hand across his face. “Well, that letter was pretty ominous.”
David sniffed. “So we have to go back into a tunnel to get another book. One that you probably won’t like reading. You’re kidding, right? This sucks ass!”
“Well, we found out the name of this Eyra of Tunga thing,” Lenny said, turning the golden object over in his hand, “but we didn’t get any answers.”
James nodded. “True, but it tells you where to find them. We still have time before dark if we go now. Well? Anyone up for a trip across town, Keeper of the Light style?”
“Garrett, you up for it?” Lenny asked.
“Yeah,” Garrett said, glancing back at Coach, his still shape unmoving under the sheet.
“Don’t worry, I will have his body carefully removed and prepared for a funeral pyre,” James said. “It’s what he requested.”
They filed back out into the hallway, where the two guards were talking to a large man dressed in camo BDUs and white tee shirt.
“Paul!” Garrett shouted.
The two clasped hands and pulled each other into a bro hug.
“I heard you were awake! Are you all caught up on what happened?” Before Garrett could answer, Paul looked to James. “I finished my assessment of the Undertown’s rear quadrant. It isn’t bad but I see a few things we could implement immediately that would make a big difference.” He turned back to Garrett.
Garrett nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. I am hoping you can tell me your plan for finding my sister,” Paul said in a serious tone. “I have been bouncing off the walls waiting for you to wake up. Do you know where she is?”
Garrett blinked. “I… I…”
James held out a hand. “He just woke up, Paul, and Syldan just died. Give him some time.”
Paul frowned, a protest building in his eyes.
“We are going to Coach’s place. He left a diary there. Maybe it will contain answers. Join us.”
Paul nodded. “A diary? Yes. That could be helpful.”
James led them through what Paul had referred to simply as Undertown. The catacombs wove under not only a good part of downtown Petersburg, but also snaked back into the bluffs as well. James explained, “Many of the narrow tunnels lead to the Keepers’ homes. This allows us to move in secret, meet up, strategize, and prepare without being noticed.”
“And keep an eye on me?” Garrett asked pointedly.
“Protect you,” James countered.
Garrett decided to let that go for now. “But why the secrecy? Isn’t the whole town in on this?”
“No,” David answered quickly. “Pete’s mom wasn’t and neither was my dad.”
“My parents were. That’s why I was being trained at night too,” Lenny said.
Garrett thought this made sense since Lenny had to train but Pete didn’t. He assumed now David didn’t either. “Wait a minute, David, so where does your dad think you are?”
“Oh, he knows now. Now that I’m one of your sages, James had him brought into the fold.”
“And he was good with it? Just like that?”
“No, he took some convincing, but with the world going crazy out there and our even crazier story, he is convinced. At least convinced enough to stay.”
“What about Pete’s mom?”
James shook his head sadly. “You know Pete’s mom is engaged to Jack’s dad. Pete went to her and tried to tell her the story. I think she wanted to believe Pete, but Jack’s dad wasn’t hearing it. Pete ran off. We found him and brought him in. As for his mom, she ended up going to the police. But the ones who aren’t Keepers or aren’t already dead from their run-in with Apep have their hands full out there. They don’t have time or resources to worry about a missing kid right now. The last report we had on her, she had gone to live with Jack’s dad, and we haven’t heard from her since.”
Jack – there was a name he hadn’t thought of since waking up. “Has anyone heard from Jack or his brother?”
“I had some of your men scouring the river. They found two older men dead a couple miles past the dam. No sign of Jack or his brother. It isn’t likely they made it either, Garrett. The Sangamon tends to hold on to its dead. Frankly, I was surprised it gave up the others so soon,” James said.
A cold chill ran
down Garrett’s back. Thanks to Lenny, it hadn’t held onto him. It would be fine by him if he never saw the Sangamon again as long as he lived.
James stopped, motioning toward a ladder. “Here we are. North Rutledge is about as close as I can get us to Syldan’s. We are going to have to hoof it from here. Once we get topside, stay close and follow me.”
It was the first time the sun had touched Garrett’s face in over ten days. They beat feet through a yard and into the woods, where an old set of tracks used to run through but had been pulled up long ago, leaving only a gravelly trail.
“This way,” James said, but then drew up short. “There!” he pointed. “You see what I mean?” Cutting across the old railroad tracks was a swath of turned-up earth about fifteen feet across. “That’s got to be a tree trail,” James whispered. “C’mon, let’s keep moving.”
Off to their left they could hear the sound of breaking limbs and rustling leaves.
James held up a hand and they stopped again.
They stayed still, listening, but the sound seemed to be moving away from them.
“Let’s go!” James whispered urgently.
“I don’t like this,” Paul announced.
“Yeah, this is freaking me out, man,” David said.
“Eyes up front, David. Don’t look back,” James said as they ran forward.
A few minutes later they climbed the stairs to Coach’s. They tried the door and it opened. The house wasn’t very big, but it was old. They didn’t need to go past the mud room to find the entrance to the basement and once in the basement they found a false wall. They ripped the paneling away, revealing the entrance to the old tunnel. The tunnel was small, and they had to duck their heads to navigate it, but they didn’t need to go far to find the little room. Just as Coach said, there was a small trunk. Garrett opened the trunk and, sitting right on top of some framed war commendations, sat a plain-looking notebook. It was old, probably as old as Garrett, but in comparison to Coach it was written yesterday.
“Okay, let’s get out of here,” James said.
Soon they had crossed back through the woods and over the railroad tracks. This time all was quiet, but the tension was still thick. Once in the tunnel they began to wind their way back toward the heart of Undertown.
“James, what is the wrong I am supposed to set right exactly?” Garrett asked.
“Thank you! That question has been eating at me,” Lenny said.
“Me three,” David said.
James stopped and turned completely around to face them. “You have to lead your people to the portal, Garrett, and then you have to lead them home.”
“Then what?” Garrett asked.
“Apep will open the gate with the God Stones. When he does you will lead us through, back home to Karelia. Karelia is the planet we came from, but long ago something happened. Something bad enough it must of pissed off all the other gods because Turek fled with whatever humans he could from Karelia to Earth.”
“But why? Why did he leave?” Lenny asked.
“From what we know, something happened between Turek and the other gods. A disagreement. Garrett, you are the one who will lead us home and set things right.”
“Um, James, does the prophecy say what exactly I am supposed to do? Do you know where this portal even is? Am I just supposed to start walking and you guys are all going to follow me? Tell me you have a better plan than that? Because that sounds like a stupid plan.”
James frowned. “Don’t mock Turek, Garrett.”
Garrett was tired and he had no interest in fighting with his brother again. “James, honestly, bro, I’m not mocking anyone – I’m just saying I don’t understand this. You lied to me, told me I was supposed to stop Apep, when you really knew I was going to die! Now you tell me you want me to lead all these Keepers to another world and we don’t know where the door is? Then what? We walk through? Pretty sure Apep will be there along with a massive army of giants and dragons. So then what, James? Does going through the portal just fix things? Does that ‘set things right’? I just want to understand the plan, James.”
“Faith, Garrett. We wait for a sign. Perhaps you will have a dream, or a feeling, and you will know what to do.”
“What? Everyone is going to sit around and wait for me to have a feeling? You realize he took Bre? Right? You realize right now she is with him if he hasn’t… hasn’t…”
“Don’t you dare say it!” Paul said. “You were asleep for ten days! You didn’t have one dream about Bre?”
“Well, he was talking to her when he woke up, but I don’t think that’s the kind of dream we’re talking about here,” Lenny offered.
Garrett flushed. “You want me to sit here under the ground and wait for a sign!? I can’t do that, James!”
“You promised me, Garrett. You promised you would find her,” Paul said.
“I know what I promised, but I don’t know where she is, Paul!” He didn’t mean to yell, but the frustration and the weight was too much.
In the distance, from a connecting corridor, feet clapped off stones, getting louder as a runner approached. From around the corner a man appeared. Garrett instantly recognized him as Yogi, who had been guarding Coach’s room earlier.
Yogi slid to a stop, breathing hard as he bowed. “Sir! Our men brought someone in. Two someones actually. They are asking for Garrett,” Yogi said, his eyes flicking to Garrett, then to Paul, then back to James.
“Well, who are they?” James demanded.
“Two Black men, sir. The younger guy is jacked and looks military. He’s with an older guy in a fedora, his dad I think. He claims to be Breanne’s father. He is demanding to speak to Garrett. Sir… he says he knows where Apep is!” Yogi said, his eyes flicking nervously back to Paul.
“My pops is here!?” Paul said, pushing past them.
James nodded, turned to Garrett, and smiled. “I told you, little brother – faith.”
54
Forgive
Saturday, April 9 – God Stones Day 4
Rural Chiapas State, Mexico
Breanne was in an all-too-familiar place – a frozen moment of horror. The worst song in the world played on the radio as cold winter air blew across crimson crystals of shattered glass. Her mother had been hurrying because Breanne had forgotten her stupid violin and they had to go back. Why? Because Breanne was throwing a fit. She absolutely couldn’t be late for this recital. She would be devastated. All her friends would see her show up late. She was yelling at her mother, “God, Mom, just hurry, would you!”
“Young lady, you’re overreacting. It will be fine! We won’t be that late.”
“No! No, it won’t be fine, Mom! I can’t be late! I can’t believe you forgot my violin!” Breanne shouted.
“Breanne! You are responsible for remembering your instrument. Now, I won’t have you speaking to me like this. I will turn this car around right now!” her mother said, taking her eyes off the road long enough to give Breanne the look. But before her mother looked back to the road, something happened – the car lost traction and slid. Her mother gasped and yanked the wheel hard – too hard. The car went into a spin and suddenly Breanne was upside down, metal was scraping, and she and her mom screamed as windows shattered, peppering her with broken glass.
When her world finally stopped coming apart, her own scream faded and everything went quiet until all she could hear was a cold wind blowing through the car, that horrible song, and her ragged breaths as her heart beat out of her chest. Dazed, she stared down at the roof of the car as she hung there, suspended by the seat belt. She couldn’t understand where all the red diamonds scattered across the roof came from. But as she watched, the red diamonds became lost in a quickly growing pool of red liquid. “Mom?” she moaned, twisting her head to look across the narrow space between them.
She shouldn’t have looked, but she looked, and she saw, and she could never unsee her mother’s eyes staring back at her, unmoving, fixed in death – a death she caused over
a stupid middle school recital that no one would remember.
Breanne had lived this moment over and over in her nightmares for the last five years. The two of them suspended upside down by seatbelts, the cold wind, the red diamonds, her mother’s lifeless body draining of its blood. She slammed her eyes shut, refusing to look. She had looked once, and it had ruined her. “God! Why? Why did you take her! Why didn’t you let me die! Oh god, why! Why?!”
These were the questions she had begged to have answered over and over for five years.
Then something very unexpected happened. A voice answered. But the voice wasn’t god.
No, Breanne. This wasn’t your fault. Do you think this is what your mom would have wanted? Would she have wanted you to blame yourself for an accident? People need you here… now. I need you, Bre!
The seatbelt cut into her neck, and she couldn’t breathe. Gabi? Is that you?
Tell her, Bre! Look at her and tell her!
She didn’t want to open her eyes. She didn’t want to feel her guts eaten raw by the guilt of it. “God, please!” she begged, but the same god who let her mother die then didn’t answer now. Somehow, in her silent agony, she knew the answer – she had to open her eyes. She had to face it straight away – and so she did. She forced her eyelids to peel back and look into her mother’s dead eyes. “I’m sorry!” Breanne screamed. “I’m sorry for making you rush. I’m… I’m sorry for what happened… for what I did! God, I’m so sorry!”