God Stones: Books 1 - 3

by Otto Schafer

  “And what’s that?” Jack asked.

  “There is always a place for those powerful enough to take it,” Apep said.

  Jack nodded. “I will kill them all.”

  “Good,” Apep said. “Now I have work to do. You should come and join—”

  “Wait!” Azazel said.

  Apep raised his brows.

  “Leave the human with me. We have a ritual to perform if he is to be dragon bonded.”

  “Ah, well, I should like to see this,” Apep said.

  “No! This is not for your eyes, dökkálfar!” Azazel snapped.

  Jack looked back to Apep. The tall elf thing stared at Azazel for a long moment as some silent agreement passed between them. Jack hoped it was a silent threat for Azazel not to harm him.

  “Very well. Carry on then,” Apep said finally. He turned away, heading back over the ridge, pausing just before he dipped out of sight. “Come find me when you finish, Jack.”

  Azazel assessed Jack as if sizing up a steak at the butcher. “Jack,” she said, no longer referring to him as human, “what I am about to give you is a gift no human has ever received. I need you to be worthy of such a gift. However, the only way to test worth is time. Do you see my conundrum?”

  Jesus Christ, if these things would just speak plain, this would be a whole lot easier. What am I supposed to say without sounding stupid? Instead, he just looked at her.

  “I need you to forget the dökkálfar’s promises. Do as he wants and kill the humans, but know that the elf places no value on you beyond his own wants. He will use you for his own devices and when he has what he wants, he will cast you aside. Do you understand?”

  This Jack understood. Well, he understood enough of it anyway. Of course he was being used! He wasn’t an idiot. “I understand, but I also understand you would just as soon eat me as look at me.”

  Azazel smiled a pit bull’s smile. “Normally, yes, this is true. But you see, Jack, I have my conundrum to deal with.”

  There it was again, that word.

  “I am about to allow you to bond with a dragon. Do you know what that means? Of course you don’t. How could you?” Azazel asked. “Everyone, leave us. I need to be alone with Jack and this trinity.”

  The other dragons departed, stirring up enough dirt to make Jack choke. He was about damn sick of eating dirt.

  “You are going to become blood bound with this dragon, Jack. This means you are forever bound to us and us to you. When you finish the dökkálfar’s bidding, you will be returned to serve your queen. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I understand. I’ll be a slave to you, or more likely food. I heard what you said to Apep,” Jack said.

  “I said what needed to be said in front of the dökkálfar. You will not be a slave, Jack, and this world seems to have an endless supply of humans to feast upon. Do well, and you will serve in my army, perhaps one day even lead it. But understand, once you are blood bound, there is no going back. You shall be bound to dragonkind and we to you. You will be protected and expected to protect us in return, and you can never betray us, Jack. Are you worthy of this gift?”

  Jack thought about this for a moment. There was something he was missing. Some truth he couldn’t see. There had to be. A moment ago, this queen dragon wanted to kill him, and now she wanted to welcome him into the family? “Why?”

  “Why what?” Azazel asked.

  “Why do you want to make me one of you when a moment ago you wanted me dead? Why?”

  “Jack. Surely you are not that stupid? Or is it that you undervalue yourself that much?”

  “Don’t talk to me like that! And don’t ever call me stupid!”

  “Perhaps I have made an error.”

  Jack stared for a long moment at Azazel. “It’s the dragon, isn’t it? Because it’s powerful, and it likes me. That’s why, isn’t it?”

  “Better. Perhaps a sliver of hope for Jack after all,” Azazel crooned. “Yes, this dragon could be a powerful asset, but do not underestimate your own power, Jack. Now, do you wish to receive the dragon gift?”

  Jack shifted his weight to his other leg. Was she scared of him? Had slaying Goch really frightened her into making him one of them? “Yes, I am worthy.”

  “And you pledge yourself to me above all others?”

  He hesitated for only a moment. Promises didn’t mean shit to him. This was about staying alive. “Yes.”

  “Say it, Jack. Drop to your knees before your queen, say your full name, and pledge yourself to me!”

  Jack dropped his knees into the rocky soil. “I, Jack Nightshade, pledge myself to my queen, Queen Azazel!”

  “Now pledge your loyalty to all dragons and swear to protect them and serve them above all others!” Azazel shouted.

  Dragon roars filled the sky as every dragon bellowed in unison.

  “I pledge my loyalty to all dragons and to protect and serve them above everyone else!” Jack shouted.

  “Hold out your hand, Jack Nightshade!”

  Jack thrust out his hand.

  Queen Azazel reached forward with a steady talon and sliced open Jack’s palm. “Call your dragon forward!”

  Jack’s hand stung like fire as his faced screwed up in pain and confusion. He didn’t know what to call the dragon.

  “Name your dragon, Jack!”

  Jack scrambled for a name. The first thing that came to mind was trinity because, well, it had three heads and the queen called it a trinity dragon, but somehow, he knew that wasn’t right. It wasn’t his idea.

  Then he thought of a story Danny told him about this pit bull his buddy had. Jack always wanted his own pit bull so he could teach it to attack people, kill cats, and fight other dogs. Anyway, the dog’s name was Cerberus, which Jack thought was a cool name, so he asked Danny what it meant. When his brother explained it was the name of a demon dog with three heads, Jack thought it was the coolest name in the world. That was his dragon’s name! That’s what it had to be! “Cerberus!” he shouted, trying to get his voice to carry over the dragons’ roars. “I name him Cerberus!”

  The roars went silent.

  Wind whipped at Jack’s curly hair. “Cerberus,” he said again.

  “That name! Where did you hear it?” Azazel asked, her voice shaky.

  “I… don’t know… my brother.”

  “Your brother? And where would he hear it?”

  “I don’t know, it’s Greek or something. Some myth about a three-headed dog from hell.”

  “A three-headed dog?” Azazel asked. “No, Jack. That name was the name of Typhon’s son.”

  “Cool,” Jack said.

  “I have no interest in angering our god by naming an abomination after his own son. Choose a different name.”

  Jack frowned. “No. You said I could name it. I like Cerberus. It’s badass. If it makes your god mad, he can talk to me about it, but in my experience, gods don’t seem to give two shits about what humans are up to.”

  “You may call your dragon Trinity,” Azazel said.

  “No, I don’t think I will. Sounds like a girl’s name.” Jack turned to the three-headed dragon. “I name you Cerberus!” he shouted.

  Cerberus’s three heads roared in chorus.

  “Very well, Jack. Very well,” Azazel conceded, turning her attention to the three-headed monster. “Step forward, Cerberus.”

  Jack watched as one of Cerberus’s heads twisted toward him, while the others focused on the queen. Instinctively, Jack nodded, and Cerberus stepped toward her.

  “Dragons are difficult to make bleed, Jack. We are covered in scales stronger than stone. Cerberus, hold out your tongue,” she commanded, focused on the center head.

  The mouth of Cerberus’s center head opened, and a long-forked serpent’s tongue slid out. She reached up with the same talon and sliced open the dragon’s tongue. The other two heads hissed in a pained protest, but they quieted quickly.

  Dark, viscous blood dripped from Cerberus’s tongue.

  “Place you
r hand on his tongue, Jack.”

  Jack moved in front of the dragon, taking in a deep breath as reached his own bleeding hand into the dragon’s mouth and laid it in the blood pooling on Cerberus’s tongue.

  At first, Jack didn’t feel anything other than the Cerberus’s slimy tongue, but then his vision blurred, and he felt something else. In his head, he saw himself. He was sitting atop Cerberus, flying through some place he didn’t recognize. All three heads of Cerberus were breathing fire of different colors. Jack looked down to see what they were burning, and he saw, but he didn’t understand. He looked back over his shoulder and frowned. Then he smiled, understanding but not believing. He blinked, the vision clearing. As his senses returned, he felt heat radiating in his hand. He looked into the dragon’s mouth to find it was awash in a red glow.

  A voice spoke in his head. Brother. We are united!

  Jack knew it was Cerberus speaking to him, but his thoughts went to Danny. In some way, giving the dragon a name he learned from Danny was special. It was like Danny was here and part of this somehow – part of the dragon. He didn’t know how to talk with his mind or even if Cerberus would hear him when he thought, but he tried anyway. Brother, we are united.

  The glow in the dragon’s mouth and Jack’s hand spread through them until it radiated across their entire bodies before fading away.

  “Jack Nightshade, the ritual is complete. You are hereby bound to my people from this day forward. We will protect you and you us. I join you in life and in death to Cerberus and he to you.”

  “What? What does that mean?” Jack demanded.

  “It means should your dragon die, so too shall you die. Should you die, so too shall Cerberus die,” Queen Azazel said, with a toothy smile.

  32

  The White Forest of Gold

  Wednesday, April 27 – God Stones Day 21

  Arizona

  Breanne had been quietly concentrating for an hour when finally all the noise melted away and she was truly inside herself. She sat cross-legged with her hands relaxed, palms up on her knees. All her focus centered on Garrett. What he looked like. The color of his eyes, brown like her brothers’. Not Ed’s, but more the shade of Paul’s mahogany eyes. The boy’s skin was tan and not at all pasty, but more a sun-kissed olive color. His hair was short when she had met him in real life, but she remembered how long it had been in her dreams and its dirty blond color.

  He was fit, but in a different way than her brothers. His muscles weren’t weight lifter huge, but rather lean and defined. She imagined him a runner and remembered Pete mentioned as much that night on their way to the library. Breanne thought about his hand and how it felt in hers: rough, callused, and strong, yet warm and gentle when it held hers. She had sat close enough to him that night in the dojo to breathe in his sweaty musk, sweet and oddly pleasant. Then he hugged her later behind the library, a combination of wet clothes and sweat. Even now, imagining it all, she could almost… almost… God, she missed him. Missed his arms enveloping her and his breath washing warmly over her ear and…

  Something crowded her vision, and the world of El Tule’s canopy blurred. Breanne tipped over, feeling the platform race toward her as she landed on her side. Then she was somewhere else. The sky was dark, and rain fell in slow, fat drops. Garrett was there, right in front of her, sitting on the ground and yelling for help! No! He wasn’t sitting on the ground! He was in the ground! He was sinking into the ground! Breanne’s vision raced toward Garrett and then pitched straight down, following him under the earth, deeper and deeper! Dirt filled the boy’s mouth and pressed on his chest and then… and then… nothing.

  Darkness filled Breanne’s vision, then slowly lifted as she realized she was somewhere else. Somewhere further forward in time than what she had just seen. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. As the world around her opened to a sky full of smoke and screams of battle, she saw Gabi.

  The girl was running toward a black dragon. Oh god! Gabi! No! No, Gabi! Breanne tried to reach the girl, but she was too far away. A small, fragile girl standing before a monster. The dragon’s long head plunged downward as it opened its mouth. Breanne couldn’t unglue her eyes, stuck fast and forced open to look upon unspeakable tragedy. Her own gut-wrenched scream smothered under the dragon’s roar. Fire pure as if from a supernova ignited in the giant beast’s throat…

  The vision faded and Breanne lay on the platform, panting for air.

  What is it, Bre? Did you see something? Gabi asked.

  I… Yes. I saw… something, she managed, wondering if she had just witnessed the deaths of two people she cared about, dare she say loved? At least she understood the vision of Garrett. She had been focused on him. But why the vision of Gabi? Where did it come from? Was it true? Was this her future? Oh god, when, and why now? Was it because Breanne felt so protective of her? Even though she had been so focused on Garrett, was it her worry for Gabi that bled through somehow?

  Hello? Bre?

  Sorry. What?

  You were yelling my name in your mind and shouting, “No!” What did you see?

  You didn’t see my vision?

  No. I wasn’t holding your hand.

  I saw Garrett. He was dying. He was… pulled under the ground, she said, her voice cracking. I don’t know how to stop it or even when it will happen.

  Gabi didn’t say anything for a long moment. And that’s why you were yelling my name?

  She couldn’t tell her what she’d seen. Not now. I don’t know what I saw, Gabi. It was fuzzy. I think… I couldn’t find you. So, we just need to be sure we stay together. Gabi’s look told her she wasn’t buying it, but she let it lay in the pile, another question unanswered. Questions were plenty, but answers were far and few between in this new world and it was frustrating to be sure. Breanne was grateful the girl didn’t press.

  Heard anything new? Breanne asked, trying to change the subject.

  No, we haven’t stopped for a while, and Jurupa just stands there shouting orders to the other trees. I don’t know why El Tule won’t speak to me – I’ve tried everything! Gabi said, banging a closed fist down on her leg in irritation. You helped me figure out how to get him to talk last time. Do you have any ideas we haven’t thought of?

  Breanne pursed her lips in thought. Well, you’ve told him pretty much your life’s story, and you’ve asked him just about everything I can think to ask. When you spoke to him last time and I was holding your hand, I could feel his presence. Do you think he could feel mine?

  Probably. I’d ask him, but his stubborn butt wouldn’t answer.

  Can I try to talk to him? Breanne asked.

  Gabi frowned. Sure, but why? Do you think you can do better than me? She smirked.

  No! Not at all, silly girl. I want to do worse. She smiled.

  Do worse? Gabi laughed. How is that supposed to help?

  You ever hear of good cop, bad cop?

  Gabi shook her head.

  Well, let me show you. I will be bad cop. The idea is to see if I can get an emotional response from him. She took Gabi’s hand as Gabi focused on El Tule. Almost instantly she felt the giant presence of the massive tree. Here went nothing. El Tule? Do you know who I am?

  Nothing.

  I am Breanne Moore. A friend of Gabi’s. I want to know why you won’t speak to her. Why, when she spends hours and even days pouring her heart out to you and sharing everything about herself, you won’t even acknowledge her? It is very rude!

  Nothing.

  I guess you must hate humans very much to not even speak to an innocent and harmless little girl who just wants to talk. A girl who came to visit you with her parents. A girl who suffered great personal loss and shared it with you. Why, El Tule? Why will you not even speak to her?

  Nothing.

  It isn’t working, Breanne. He hates me, Gabi said.

  Is that so, El Tule? Do you hate an innocent little girl? I wonder, were humans so bad to you? From what Gabi told me, humans practically worshipped you. People ca
me from hundreds of miles to see the great El Tule. How then were you so wronged that you would kidnap an innocent child?

  You know nothing, little human, El Tule said.

  Gabi gasped.

  Then tell me! Tell me what I don’t know. Tell me why you kill humans when they did nothing but try to protect you.

  I am a big tree and an old tree, thus I was given special care. This does not mean the wrongs humans have executed upon my brothers and sisters can go unanswered. I have borne witness to every atrocity committed. I have seen my brethren’s flesh cut. I have seen the murder of innocence unfathomable! Yet, you demand of me? I owe you no words… I owe you no explanation. It is you and yours who owe the forest.

  How have you witnessed this? Breanne asked, pressing ahead.

  We are connected. We see all through each other and therefore we know all you have done, are doing, and will continue to do against our kind, El Tule said.

  And you feel that this girl – Breanne pointed at Gabi – this girl who stood in awe of your presence deserves to be punished for the wrongs of others?

  This is not my decision.

  But ignoring her was your decision, El Tule? Or is that your queen’s decision? Are you capable of making your own decisions?

  For a long moment, Breanne heard only silence. She knew she had probably pushed too far and was about to try again when El Tule answered.

  Do you wish to insult me? El Tule asked, his whole canopy thrashing violently.

  At the other end of the platform, Jurupa tipped her head back to the sky.

  Careful, Bre? Don’t push him too hard!

  Yes! Careful, Breanne Moore, the thunderous voice said.

  I’m only asking you to speak to a little girl who needs someone to speak to! Does that threaten you so much, El Tule?

  You are incapable of threating me, El Tule said confidently.

  Then what’s it hurt to talk to us, or at least to Gabi? You have been alive for a long time, right? I’m sure you have stories. I’m sure you have seen more than we will see in a hundred lifetimes. We are stuck here with nothing to do but wait. Is it so much to ask?