by Otto Schafer
And so, with dragons on their flanks and the path to the gods burned into the earth before them, they ran. King Helreginn and his warriors ran. His women ran. Even his children ran. And before the sun set again, the nephilbock had crossed nearly one hundred and fifty miles.
On the second day, they entered a human city larger than anything Helreginn had ever seen. Giant structures stretched high into the sky, as high as any pyramid he had seen. The gods smiled on his people as they ravaged this city the humans called Bogotá. Never had he seen so many humans! On this day, every nephilbock and dragon belly was filled!
On the third day, they reached the ocean. If King Helreginn remembered right, he need only keep the ocean on his left and the land ahead would narrow even further. This narrow passage of land was the way home – the way to his gods. He ordered camp, and the next morning they set out well rested and well fed. He would break pyramid formation here and lead his tribe down the west shore to prevent the need to defend both sides from the trees.
By mid-morning on the fourth day, they reached a city the humans called Panama City. It had already been attacked and reduced to rubble, but clearly this place had been another massive construction. Helreginn’s scouts learned the humans had even cut a canal through the earth to allow floating cities to pass from one ocean to the other.
As Helreginn stared across the strange river, he could see something was wrong. All the bridges were completely destroyed. On the opposite side, massive trees lined the edge, crowded in so tightly together it was impossible they would have grown that way. Trees stacked against trees. Their canopies squished together so that their trunks touched. They had demolished the city and all paths across the water. Didn’t they know by now the dragons would burn them?
Of course they knew. Then why? What was their angle? Some trees were taller than pyramids. Bigger than any he had seen in the Amazon basin. As his warriors waited for orders to cross the channel, Helreginn looked to the sky. What were the dragons waiting for? Why hadn’t they started torching the trees?
“Father! Why are the dragons hesitating? They have had no issue burning the trees before,” Gato asked.
Helreginn looked across the river again, then to the sky. Then through his own wisdom he understood. “Gato, if the dragons burn those trees” – he pointed across the river – “those trees so big and so close to each other, how long would those fires burn before we could cross?”
“I… I don’t know. It will depend on how far north they are pressed together like that, but maybe days.”
“The trees are not trying to defeat us, Gato, they are preparing to sacrifice themselves to slow us down. They are trying to keep us from reaching the portal. I heard the ancient stories from the king of the gods, Ogliosh himself. When the portal was last open, it nearly wiped out this planet. They are delaying us. To what end, I can only guess. Perhaps they are trying to destroy the portal before we open it. Maybe they are there attacking now! Our gods need us, Gato!” Looking to the sky, Helreginn nodded. “The dragons must know this. That’s why they won’t attack. If they attack, they know it will not be like the open jungle where the fires burn themselves out hot and fast. They know these massive trees packed so tight will burn for days, blocking our way!”
“What do we do, Father?” Gato asked.
From above, one dragon bigger than all the others descended.
The High Guard surrounded their king with weapons ready as the three-headed monster settled onto the ground. The great dragon laid its belly on the ground as a tiny human slid down the side to land in the grass. Helreginn frowned curiously. The little human looked but a child as he approached the guard, hands held open.
Zebrog stepped forward and pointed his spear down at the human’s face.
The dragon’s three heads hissed as their mouths stretched open. The human stopped, hands still open, and looked back at the dragon and motioned. The dragon’s mouths closed.
“No, Zebrog! The human isn’t here to hurt us. Stand aside!” King Helreginn ordered as he stepped forward.
The king stuck his sword in the dirt and approached with hands open to mimic those of the human.
The human pointed at himself and said, “Me, Jack.”
43
Condemned to Death
Friday, April 29 – God Stones Day 23
Fishlake National Forest, Utah
At the sight of Ed, relief washed over Garrett. He was alive! Somehow, he was alive. Garrett wanted to shout, I’m sorry Ed. I’m sorry for what I said! I didn’t mean it! I take it all back! He opened his mouth to say something, but Paul beat him to it.
“Jesus, Ed, we thought you were… We thought you were dead!” Paul said, stepping forward toward his brother, but the stick figure behind him snatched his arm and held him. “Let me go!” Paul sneered back at the stick man.
“If you attempt to approach your brother, I will be forced to bind you once again,” Pando said.
“Dead?” Breanne asked. “What are you talking about, dead?”
“I hadn’t really had a chance to tell you, Bre!” Paul said, looking back to Ed. “You’re okay? I mean, Jesus, Ed. I watched that bitch run a sword right through you.”
Garrett noticed it then: a blood-stained slit, dried and crusted in the center of Ed’s abdomen. “Ed? Is it really you?” If shifting trees could look like anything they wanted, then why not anyone?
Ed struggled against the giant holding him, an eight-foot-tall creature with a silver mask that hid his face. No, Garrett reminded himself. The mask is his face. It’s what they want you to see.
“Yes, it’s me! Breanne! I tried to find you! I’m sorry,” Ed said, grimacing up and over his shoulder at the giant holding him.
“How do we know it’s really you?” David asked.
“Bre, listen to me. The last time we played spades in the camper, you beat me best two out of three. You remember?”
“I remember! Only Ed would know that,” Breanne said.
Paul didn’t seem so sure. “Ed, what was mom’s favorite color?”
“Blue,” he answered instantly.
“Which knee did you injure in SEAL training?”
“Left,” he fired back.
“What—”
“Enough! Shall I cut him open to show you he bleeds red?” Pando asked.
“No!” Breanne shouted. “But… there is a way to be sure.”
“Go on, Breanne Moore?”
“Let me hug him. Let me hug him and I will know,” Breanne said.
“You think we cannot replicate the feel of humans? I assure you we can feel as human as we look, Breanne Moore,” the queen said with a smirk. “But very well, if this will satisfy you, then proceed.”
Breanne approached Ed and threw her arms around him, nestling her nose into his shirt. She pushed back and smiled a tight, worried smile. “I love you, Ed.”
“I love you too, sis,” Ed said.
“Are we satisfied?” Pando asked.
“Is it Ed, Bre? You’re sure?” Garrett asked.
“I’m sure.”
“Let him go and give us our weapons, Pando!” Garrett ordered.
Pando nodded to Governess.
Governess carried Lenny’s staff and Garrett’s sword forward and tossed them to the ground.
Pando said, “You are free to go, Garrett Turek, but the brother stays with me until you return. Fail me, and he dies along with the rest of humanity.”
“No! We need Ed! Tell her, Garrett! Tell her we need him,” Breanne begged, tears filling her eyes.
“I told you, Pando, I need all my friends with me for this!”
“No, Garrett Turek! That is not what you said. You said you needed your sages! You have them! All of them!” She pointed at Breanne. “You made your choice to make the little lion a sage. You told her to pledge herself to Garrett Turek! Which she has done! You, Breanne Moore, have traded your brother’s life for the girl’s!”
“But that isn’t fair! I didn’t know!” Brea
nne said, the tears spilling down her face.
“Look at me, Breanne Moore,” the queen said, lifting her chin to look down her nose. “Look me in the eyes and tell me if you had it to do over again, would you choose to let the girl die? Tell me you would, and I will allow the little lion to take your brother’s place.”
Garrett watched Breanne’s face twist from confusion to horrific comprehension as the weight of the decision she was being forced to make threatened to crush her. “What?”
Ed stood across from his sister and shook his head from side to side.
Breanne shifted her attention to the little girl, Gabi.
“I’m sorry, Bre,” Gabi said, her own gaze dropping to her feet.
Breanne shook her head. “No. Even knowing what I know now, I would go back and make the same decision. The same decision I am going to make now. The sages stick together no matter what,” she said, taking Gabi’s hand in hers. “You are my sister, Gabi, and you are a sage.” She looked at her brother. “Ed, we will not fail you,” she said, her voice choked. “We will be back for you!”
Ed pressed his lips into a tight line and nodded. “I know you will.”
The giant man behind Ed shape-shifted again, encircling Ed in a sphere of knotted wood.
Before the sphere closed completely, Garrett heard Ed yell, “Take care of my baby sister, Garrett!”
Then the ball was sealed.
“Good. Now we are finished here. Be gone with you,” Pando said, seemingly floating backward up the steps to her throne as roots hidden beneath her gown carried her onto the dais. She sat down and flicked a wrist. “The trail will present itself on your way out.”
They started to walk – all but Gabi.
Garrett turned back to find her fixed in place, staring up at the queen. “What’s she doing?”
“Gabi,” Breanne said.
“Something else, little lion? If not, be off with you. I have another trial to conduct,” Pando said.
Gabi screamed, loud enough to cause Garrett to jump.
“What is it, Gabi?” Breanne asked.
“She is going to kill El Tule!”
“What? Why?” Breanne asked, running back to Gabi.
“How I deal with the treason of my trees is none of your concern.”
“You can’t let her kill El Tule, Garrett. He saved you!”
Garrett didn’t understand what this girl was talking about. He looked at Breanne and held out his hands.
“We have a lot to catch you up on, Garrett. For starters, she can hear them speak to each other through their roots. She is… telepathic, but it’s more complicated than that,” Breanne said, looking to Pando. “We have a long journey, Pando – let El Tule take us back! Give us a fighting chance!”
“My queen,” El Tule said. “If it pleases you, give me the honor of dying in battle? I will transport them back and then attack at the portal with the redwoods.”
“You insist on having this discussion in front of humans? So be it,” Pando said, standing and facing El Tule. “El Tule Ahuehuete, your status had earned you a place at my side, exempt from battle. You were to be part of my council. You were to walk by my side in the free world. You were to be honored. But today you plead for the life of a human. Despite my wise decision to allow this attempt at our salvation to move forward with these despicable humans, you have betrayed me, your queen. You are hereby cast out from my chosen and condemned to death.”
Beside Garrett, Gabi cried.
“You ask for the dignity to go to war. You ask to face the onslaught of dragons and giants at the portal to Karelia. El Tule Ahuehuete, never let it be said your queen is not merciful. You will lead the first wave of redwoods and will be the first to die at the portal. This is my parting gift to you. Remember this day! Remember the compassion of your queen, Pando the Trembling Giant!”
“Thank you for your generosity, my queen. I will do my best to honor you in this kindness you have bestowed upon me,” El Tule said.
“As you should. Now leave this place, El Tule, and take the humans with you. You have proven yourself more fitting to be among their ilk than ours.”
Across the clearing a path opened, drawing Garrett’s attention. When he glanced back toward the queen, all signs she had ever been there were gone, withdrawn back into the forest floor, he supposed.
Gabi was the first to climb onto El Tule. Governess went next, and the others followed. Finally, it was only Garrett and Breanne who were left standing alone at the base of the big tree.
Breanne placed a foot on the wood step when Garrett took her gently by the arm. “Breanne?”
She turned and looked at him. “Yeah?”
“I… I want you to know. I never stopped thinking about you since you were taken. Even when I was knocked out for all those days, I dreamt of you.” He felt his face flush, but he wanted her to know. “Breanne, I know this sounds crazy but I lo—”
Breanne leaned in and kissed him on the mouth.
His eyes went wide at first, but then he closed them, kissing her back. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him and they stayed there kissing for a long moment – a moment that he didn’t want to end.
When their lips finally parted, he tried to speak again.
“I know,” she said with a smile that conveyed a thousand emotions.
Garrett stood there, struck stupid. Say something smart, Garrett, or just say something! He didn’t. Way to go.
After a moment, Breanne put her hand on his face and rubbed dirt from under his eye with her thumb. “Come on, let’s go. I have so much to tell you!” she said over her shoulder as she began to climb.
Garrett stayed there in the moment for just a few seconds longer. Watching Breanne go, he knew deep in his heart for the first time since he left home that, despite it all, he had made the right choices – his choices. Not Turek’s. Not his mother’s. Not James’s. He knew because he had followed his heart, and in doing so his choices had led him to the girl he loved. Whatever happened from here, he was with his friends – his sages. He didn’t like the thought of Ed held prisoner by the trees, but an hour ago he’d thought him dead, so glass half full. He could see how painful it had been for Breanne, but he wouldn’t fail Ed, and they wouldn’t fail the world.
Garrett stepped up onto El Tule, feeling surprisingly optimistic. All he had to do was lead his friends to another world, kill an evil wizard, save a kingdom, find a magical item that could make trees walk, find a way to get it back to Earth, and save humanity. Oh, and do it all in six months. In addition, he needed to figure out what “wrong” the prophecy said he was going to “set right.” Surely it had to be one of the things already on his list, right?
Garrett sighed. Don’t think too much, Garrett, he said to himself, not wanting his optimism to wane. Then he smiled. Right now, he had his friends and a handful of days to spend with the girl he loved. Up he climbed.
44
The Place in Between
Friday, April 29 – God Stones Day 23
Band of Holes, Peru
“Your prodigy is doing well, Apep,” Azazel said.
“I hear the concern in your voice, Azazel. Is it the mother in you that makes you worry so much? Or is it truly fear of a human child?”
“Are the intrusions of reality too much for you to bear, or are you so blind? You cannot create a monster and complain when it crushes you, for that is what monsters do, Apep.”
“A monster!” Apep scoffed. “I am the monster, Azazel. You would be wise to remember that.”
“Oh, no need to worry about that, little prince – I could never forget what you are.”
Apep didn’t like that. He didn’t like that at all, but he wasn’t a fool either. He knew she would turn her army against him the first chance she could. All he had to do was hold everything together long enough to take his kingdom. Take the kingdom and to hell with the dragons and nephilbock! One he would make slaves, the other… food for the slaves! He laughed and then sang to h
imself, I’m coming for you, Father! I’m coming!
“Do you hear me!” Azazel shouted.
Apep blinked. “What?”
“Never mind. Clearly your overuse of Sentheye is destroying your mind.”
Apep rolled his blackened eyes for show. The intrusions of reality were indeed unwelcome. Azazel wasn’t wrong, and he knew it. Nevertheless, he needed to be more careful. If he let his guard down for one moment, it could be his ruin. One slip could lead to a tumble off a cliff when dealing with the queen of queens. He was doing what he must, whatever the cost of it!
“Do you even hear me, dökkálfar?”
“What? Yes, of course! I am sharp and stronger than ever,” he lied. “Besides, I can finally stop this constant channeling now that I have finished hatching and growing your dragon hordes. You’re welcome.”
“Hmmm, I am not so sure. But if you are looking for praise, you won’t find any here. It is waiting for you back on Karelia when your kingdom is overthrown, and dragons are no longer slaves to your kind. Keep your word to me, Apep, and you shall have praise from the queen of queens, but if you break your promise, you shall have no kingdom to rule.”
Perhaps a less frayed version of himself would have let that pass. Probably not, but at least reason would have prevailed to keep him focused on the bigger picture. Not now. Why not now? He still had the wherewithal to think before he opened his mouth, yet it was his thoughts threatening to betray his plans. Worse, something inside him wanted more. Some strange feeling pushed him to call upon the Sentheye to kill. Apep used all his capacity to hold back the craving that writhed like a snake inside him. Killing the dragon bitch where she stood would undo everything, yet he couldn’t let the threat simply pass. To let it pass was to admit weakness. Gods were not weak, and he had bigger plans than a kingdom or even a world. When Apep had woken beneath the sands of Egypt, he had been reborn. The gods had pulled him from darkness and set loose a creature of fury, a being of anger, a god in the making! And gods were not silent when threatened! His hands shook as he fought for restraint. “Careful with that sharp tongue, queen of queens, lest you slit your own throat.”