God Stones: Books 1 - 3

by Otto Schafer

  Ed looked at Paul with palms out.

  Paul shrugged.

  “You’re pushing the wrong way – we need to go starboard right now!” Louie pointed into the darkness ahead.

  “We’re in the middle now,” Ed said. “Why starboard?”

  “If we hurry, we can still make it!” Louie said, staring downriver.

  “Louie, you need to explain what’s happening! What did Kong tell you?” Garrett demanded.

  The burly man frowned. “They’re coming for you right now, and if we’re on the river, we’re a damn sitting duck!”

  Under his sleeves, Garrett felt his arms tingle. Maybe they had already been tingling and he hadn’t noticed, but he noticed now, and he was sure Louie was right. Something was coming.

  “Push us starboard, Ed!” Garrett said.

  “You got to be kidding me!” Ed said, turning to tower over Garrett. “You’re going to listen to this drunk? What happened to riding the ferry down to the lock? Now you want to ditch it? What about the trees?”

  “Ed’s got a point, Garrett,” Paul said.

  Louie took off his hat and threw it on the deck, revealing his balding head, shiny in the moonlight. “We shoulda listened to Kong! He said cross, he didn’t say nuttin’ about floating down the river! You worryin’ about trees! You won’t live to worry ’bout trees if’n we don’t get off this riv—”

  A loud screech pierced the night.

  All eyes shot to the sky.

  “Dragons!” Lenny shouted.

  Ed ran starboard, already off the ground when he hit the rail.

  The ferry responded, listing starboard.

  Garrett reached over his shoulder, drawing his sword.

  “Guys, we need all our bikes and gear brought to this end of the ferry!” Paul said, running for the bikes.

  “Louie, how long before we hit land?” Garrett yelled.

  “I expect it’ll be soon. Kong says there are boat ramps just ahead. Try to hit one of ’em. They attach to a large, paved parking lot right off Route 67. You might avoid trees for a while if you stay on the hard road.”

  “Kong tell you that too?” Paul asked.

  “No, you sons-a-bitch! How the hell’s a catfish going to know how big a parking lot is! I fished there plenty’s all!” Louie said, scratching his bald spot. “I just never tried to get to it from the water in the dark!”

  “I think I liked him better drunk,” Paul muttered.

  They ran for their gear, pulling everything to the front of the boat.

  “Lenny, get over here,” Edward shouted. “Can you see the docks?”

  Lenny squinted, electric gold crackling through his eyes. “Yeah, I see them. The whole parking area, with the boat ramps, sticks out into the river. We’re close, a block maybe! But you need to flex those big-ass arms and push harder, Ed! Or we might miss and sail right by.”

  “Easy… for you… to say!” Ed grunted as he put everything he had into it. “Hooyah!”

  Garrett craned his head, trying desperately to see how close the dragons were, but he saw only blotchy clouds and darkness.

  Without warning, the sky behind the boat lit up with a blinding fireball of flame, dousing the rear railing and the back of the ferry in strange-colored fire, igniting everything it touched.

  Garrett saw it now, a massive red dragon, and several others too. How many, he couldn’t say. From the blackened sky, Garrett heard the last voice he thought he would ever hear. A voice he’d thought was silenced, dead.

  “I’ve got you now, Garrett! And I’m going to make you pay!”

  18

  A Breakfast Vision

  Thursday, April 21 – God Stones Day 15

  Rural Chiapas State, Mexico

  Consciousness found Breanne like the end of hibernation finds a bear – reluctantly. Though waking and moving were two very different things, and she had no desire to move. She was warm, nestled snugly inside a double layer of throws. Best of all, she was on a cot, not a pallet on a cave floor or on bags of coffee beans, but an actual cot made for the sole purpose of taking rest. She knew too, even without moving, that her body ached and would hurt even more when forced into motion.

  Slowly she pulled the blanket off her face to reveal a room of shadows, strange shapes, and unfamiliar outlines. She was a stranger in another’s home, far away from her own. When had she been home? The last time she had been with her father and brother on Oak Island. That was the last time – that was home. Family was home. On the cot next to her, she listened to Gabi’s rhythmic breathing. This girl, this special girl, she was family now too, so as strange as Breanne’s surroundings were, in a sense, she was home.

  Breanne blinked away sleepy eyes and focused on a dim light seeping in through cracks around shuttered windows. Early morning light, or was it late morning? She thought of Sarah. That was all the spark she needed to make her throw back the blanket and put her feet on the floor. Jesus Christ, it must be in the fifties.

  She forced her aching body up, wrapped a blanket around herself, and then made her way to the cookstove. Every step caused pain to shoot through her tender feet. The fire had faded to only a few burning coals, but it was enough to get a blaze going again with little effort. Next, she got dressed, and she dreaded this worse than getting out of bed. Her jeans were crusted with mud from the knees down, and her hiking boots were still damp despite sitting by the stove all night. Those wet boots were the cause of the blisters on her heels, toes, and the balls of her feet. She wouldn’t lace up until she absolutely had to, but she knew pulling them on was going to be hell.

  Next on the agenda was to try and make some sort of breakfast for Gabi. She doubted she could equal Gabi’s Mexican-style scrambled eggs, but she had to try. She quietly searched the hut and found nothing she recognized. Violeta and her family must have taken all the food with them when they fled the village. Then she remembered Violeta mentioning her garden. Hadn’t she said it was the biggest in the village? Breanne eyed her boots with trepidation, as if she were looking at two piles of red-hot coals. She eased her sore feet into the damp boots and laced up.

  Outside, the monsoon had passed, leaving a sky streaked with straggling clouds hurrying to catch up. All around her, soggy tree branches slumped like the shoulders of weary travelers, heavy and sad. Oddly, the morning was silent, void of singing birds, buzzing insects, or strange animal mating calls. Instead, everything was perfectly still, as if the forest were holding its breath. If it weren’t for the steady rhythm of dripping foliage, Breanne would have thought time had somehow frozen around her. She drew in a deep breath of morning air, fresh and crisp, happy for the sun to climb high and shine brightly. And happy, too, for the warmth it promised to bring along. It was too cold, and she was sure they were still at least a month out from Mexico’s monsoon season. The God Stones, she thought, as a worry greater than the day’s errand overcame her. We have to stop Apep before he destroys the world. Right now though, she had to control what she could control, and that was finding some breakfast – hopefully.

  She walked around the hut to discover a massive garden, full of plants she couldn’t identify. She frowned, hoping for tomatoes. As she ventured deeper, she found three large trees bearing a familiar fruit. Many of the brown fruits had fallen to the ground and rotted, but she quickly found a few left ripening on the vine. Her mouth salivated. She had tried these before and remembered them tasting similar to apricots. She dragged her fingernail across the skins of four of the large mamey, testing their ripeness just like her father had shown her. Satisfied, she pulled them from the tree.

  On her way back, she found a bush of small green tomatillos and some strange-looking, skinny avocados. Once back inside the hut, she piled her bounty onto a small table and began looking for a knife; then she remembered her stiletto. She cut two of the giant mamey fruits, opening up the reddish yellow flesh and releasing a sweet smell that made her stomach growl instantly. She peeled the transparent skin off the tomatillos, placing them just insi
de the wood stove to roast.

  Oh, Mother Mary, something smells good! Gabi said, sitting up on her cot and stretching.

  Breanne smiled. My turn to make you breakfast, Gabi, but, um, sorry, no eggs.

  No, but fruit sounds even better! Can I help? I have a stash of coffee from the farmhouse in my pack, Gabi said, standing with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

  Gabi! You’re becoming quite the little caffeine fiend! Breanne said, giggling aloud.

  Me? she said innocently, but her sly smile was devious. I just thought you might need the boost for our trip back.

  Coffee sounds great, Gabi – come try this fruit. It’s amazing! Breanne took a bite, chewed and swallowed. She could practically feel the sugar coursing through her before the mamey reached her stomach.

  Gabi took a bite from a chunk on the table, then another and another, her small cheeks stuffed to capacity and bulging like a chipmunk’s. She smiled brightly, a piece of the burnt orange flesh of the mamey showing as she giggled. Then she retrieved a cook-pot and disappeared outside, only to return quickly with a pot of water.

  Nice? I didn’t see a well.

  Gabi placed the pot atop the cookstove. Probably near the center of the village, but even better, they have rain collection right outside. She reached into the stove with a long poker and turned the tomatillos.

  Gabi, how did you sleep last night?

  Gabi’s face became serious, and for just a moment she seemed to go somewhere else.

  Gabi?

  She blinked. I slept like the dead. I was so tired, but I feel good now. How did you sleep?

  Bad dreams, she said, not wanting to elaborate. She didn’t even want to bring up the word dragon. So she quickly turned her thoughts to Garrett. They were fuzzy, though.

  You should try to reach him, Gabi said.

  Breanne frowned. I don’t have anything that belongs to him, and I don’t think he touched anything I have. She walked over to the cookstove. I think these tomatillos are ready.

  Okay, what about your brothers?

  Nope, I already thought about that too. When Apep stole me, all I had left were the clothes on my back.

  Gabi rummaged through the kitchen supplies and found some crushed spices and salt. I was thinking, why do we think we need something that belonged to someone to communicate with them?

  Breanne set the tomatillos on the table to cool and cut into the petite avocados. Because that’s what worked that first night with Sarah.

  Exactly, but who says it is a rule? You talked to your dad without me. And we talk to each other without touching anything of each other’s.

  I don’t know, Gabi, she said skeptically. Then she nodded, her face forming a firm smile. But you’re right! Why not try? But first… food!

  They mixed the avocado, seasonings, and tomatillos in a bowl and devoured the contents. The tomatillos weren’t as bitter as Breanne expected the little green tomato things to be. They were actually a little sweet after roasting. They each ate a mamey as they took turns sipping warm coffee from the pot.

  Gabi searched the shelves, quickly identifying the three containers of herbs with antibiotic properties that Violeta had described, and placed them in her pack along with a mamey. Breanne packed the other one in her pack along with some more avocados and tomatillos from the garden. They would have taken even more, but the weight was plenty noticeable already and they had a long hike back to the farm.

  As they got ready to depart, Gabi turned to Breanne. Try to reach him before we go?

  Breanne nodded and sat down on the edge of a cot. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on him. She could feel Gabi there with her in her mind.

  Where are you, Garrett? Can you hear me? Garrett? She waited for a long moment. Nothing. Garrett, are you there? Please answer me. Tell me you are okay. Nothing. She opened her eyes. It isn’t working, Gabi. She didn’t have anything of Garrett’s and he didn’t have anything of hers.

  Just try again. And stop thinking about objects you don’t have. You have his heart, and he has yours.

  Gabi! Breanne flushed.

  Come on, let’s both just concentrate super hard, Gabi said, her voice still hopeful.

  Breanne wasn’t so sure though, and it felt silly, like trying to make the planchette on a Ouija board move without touching it. But she wanted to talk to him so bad. Garrett! Please! Can you hear me?

  A sudden sensation covered Breanne like a layer of thick dirt. It pressed down on her and she couldn’t breathe. Panic overcame her and her heart compressed against her chest, struggling to find room to beat. She felt like her body was being crushed. The fear was sudden and dreadful, and she thought she was going to die. And in that split second moment she heard a voice, and she knew she wasn’t being crushed… Garrett was!

  His voice rang out in her mind: Breanne!

  19

  Here We Go, Danny!

  Wednesday April 20 – God Stones Day 14

  The Mississippi River, near Alton, Illinois.

  For three days, Jack rode on the small dragon’s scaly back. Three days searching for Garrett. They had flown back and forth from southern Wisconsin to southern Illinois. The dragons would have killed him by now, sure as shit, if it weren’t on account he knew what Garrett looked like. Heck, maybe that wouldn’t have even been enough to save him. But Jack was smart, way smarter than most gave him credit for and a hell of a lot smarter than Garrett, that was for damn sure. He’d said Apep’s name, and not only said it, but gone as far as to say he served Apep. What a stupid name – Apep. He hadn’t heard anyone go by a name like that and figured he must have been from another country, probably Iraq or some Middle East place. Didn’t make no difference, though. The man had said he’d know when to say his name. Well, he’d said it all right, and right when he needed to.

  Just like everyone else, the dragons were underestimating him. He hadn’t forgotten Goch’s promise to kill him when this was over. Let them think what they want, Danny. They will never get us. Once Garrett is dead, we’ll be ready! Ready for anything.

  No one was ever gonna underestimate Jack Nightshade again. Not the dragons, not the people of Petersburg. At least not the ones left alive, anyway. Not after he’d shown up with five dragons and burned the whole town down. His own father had underestimated all the way up until he filled the old man’s organs with cancer and then let Goch eat him. He’d never forget the way the old man begged when Jack gave Goch the order – Finish him! Thinking back, he kind of regretted that. He should have said something more smart than that. Some smart-assed parting words. What’s a matter, Dad, don’t you wanna take a swing? What, Dad – all out of names to call me? Well, it didn’t matter now. In the end, Jack had got to look his old man in the eyes unafraid, and seeing the fear spun round the other way – well, that was satisfaction enough.

  He’d been quicker on his feet with Pete’s mom. As Goch finished off the old man, Jack had looked at her and shrugged. Guess the wedding’s off, Mom. Thinking back on it over the past couple days, he never failed to laugh at the comment. She had begged him not to kill his father, but after he killed him anyway, the begging switched to pleas for her own life. Once he’d heard enough of her whimpering, he said, Oh now, I ain’t gonna kill you. He let the glimmer of hope light her face before he nodded to the young dragons. Watching them feed had reminded him of something, and he was going to be sure to share it with Pete when he caught up to the little four-eyed geek. And when he finally did catch up, he’d be sharper with his tongue too. He’d be ready with last words when he killed Garrett, Lenny, and the others. He’d had time to think of what he would say. Let them all underestimate us, Danny.

  For three days, these and other thoughts of revenge were Jack’s reflections as he and the dragons soared through clouds, searching. He had slept little, and when the dragons stopped to feast on humans, he took the opportunity to raid homes and businesses for food.

  Yesterday, outside of Springfield, he broke into a large home inside some up
pity subdivision. The family inside had guns, but it didn’t matter. He thought he had given them the symptoms of severe food poisoning, but as they lay there retching, Jack wasn’t so sure he hadn’t given them something far worse. He hadn’t even needed help from the dragons to subdue them. Besides, the dragons were busy burning and chasing down neighbors. Well, it was mostly Goch who did the burning. The younger ones were learning, though, and getting better every day. The one he rode on, Aiden, was the smallest and the worst at breathing fire. Aiden could only shoot flame for a couple seconds, and then it seemed to take him a while to build back up. Jack figured it was like a battery or something. He noticed too that they spoke mostly in another language he couldn’t understand and usually only spoke English to insult him or yell threats at other humans.

  The people in the house were some kind of crazy couponers and had hoarded a ton of shit. They had a whole basement full of rooms dedicated to their prepping. One room full of toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, and all kinds of other crap. One was full of cleaning supplies, and one dedicated to just food. Jack had eaten good that day, but the best part was when he scored a leather motorcycle jacket with red stripes down the arms. It was a little big, but it was dope, and really warm, plus there were matching gloves, chaps, and a helmet. He took the leather gloves to go with the jacket but left the rest.

  Today, they’d slept the entire afternoon in the deep woods of the Shawnee National Forest before deciding to search the Mississippi River. It was evening and nearing dark by the time they were flying again. Jack would have preferred searching during the daylight, but it didn’t matter to the dragons – they could see just fine in the dark. Plus, the night was colder, but at least he had the jacket and was being allowed to ride atop the dragon instead of in Goch’s talons. Also, unlike lizards, dragons’ bodies were surprisingly warm.

  They had been flying high above the Mississippi River, searching the fields and forests that lined the edge and the water itself, but so far they hadn’t seen anything suspicious, not even a single boat. It had become so dark Jack wasn’t sure if it was late or early when Goch finally spoke. “Below is a flat structure with vehicles parked on top floating downriver. There are humans on board.”