“Tried to feed the puppies, did you?” she asked with her eyebrows raised.
I tried to think of a witty remark, but just came up with, “My thumb won’t move.”
“Bah, kids these days. You whine about everything. Let me see it.”
I held out my mauled hand, my thumb leaking life’s blood and pointing off at a very inappropriate angle. My stomach twisted and I turned away. Exploding undead? No problem. Mangled phalanges? Ugh.
Cara whistled. “Wow, one of the puppies did that?”
“Yeah, Bubbles,” I said.
She grinned; she actually had the gall to grin as Aideen landed on the shelf in front of me. “Be glad it wasn’t Peanut. You wouldn’t have a hand left.”
“Peanu–”
“Socius Sanation,” Cara said.
I yelped again as a flash of pain ran from my knuckles to my wrist. Pale light pulled the sides of the gashes and tears together, knitting the wounds before my thumb popped back into place with a nasty crunch. A little phantom pain remained once the incantation faded, but I looked good as new. “Thanks Mom.” I gave my thumb a wiggle, then gave her a thumbs up. “Peanut?”
She nodded and said, “Peanut has developed a tremendous bite.” She held up her hand to silence my next round of questions. “Before I forget, Frank left you something for your trip.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Not unless you have an irrational fear of dry salted beef.” She paused and narrowed her eyes. “You don’t have an irrational fear of dry salted beef, do you?”
Aideen laughed.
I smiled slowly. “No, in fact, I don’t. Where’s it at?”
“Under the register,” she said and pointed toward the front of the store.
I found one of Frank’s vacuum-sealed bags under the counter. It had “For Zola” scribbled across the top of it. I had to laugh. With the beef added to my impressive pile of road food, I sat down behind the register to wait for Zola and Sam.
* * *
“It’s just 67 South to 221, right?” I said as I slammed the glass hatch on the back of the Blazer.
Zola nodded as she opened her door. “Yes, that is what Sam said. Ah must admit Ah’m looking forward to this.”
“Why?” I walked around to the driver’s side of the car and scooted into the front seat.
“Ah’ve not visited the old god that guards the talisman in many years.”
“Old what?”
She laughed as I put the car in gear. We backed out and waved to Foster, Sam, and Aideen. “The old Guardian. You will see, Damian.”
“Great. I. Can’t. Wait.”
Zola was silent for a moment. As we left the cobblestones and turned onto good old-fashioned asphalt she said, “Have you never met a Guardian, boy?”
“Just Jasper, the Carnivorous Dust Bunny.”
Zola laughed. “Jasper was not a dust bunny.”
I shrugged and pulled onto the highway. “Well, he sure looked like a huge dust bunny.”
“He is a demi-god.”
I nodded.
“He was very fond of your sister, if Ah remember right.”
I smiled at the memories of Jasper’s antics. “He possessed her stuffed animals and made them walk around. She loved it. You know, he never bit Sam, but he always bit the hell out of me. Bastard used to eat my hot dogs too.” I laughed and flexed my hand as I remembered the sight of a floppy-eared stuffed rabbit with its mouth wrapped around my fingers.
Miles of pavement rumbled by as the rental whistled where a sword strike had ripped a hole in its side. It was starting to get under my skin, but Zola didn’t seem to notice. I turned the radio on for some background noise and turned it back off about a minute later with an irritated flick of my hand.
“Radio sucks, no auxiliary jacks, and there’s not even a CD player in this stupid rental.” I rubbed my face and glanced at Zola.
She just smiled back, laugh lines crinkling around her eyes.
“Oh, you’re a big help. Toss me some Crunch ’n Munch, will you?”
“You never did have much patience for travel.” She handed me the box before she picked up the bag of jerky Frank had given her. It took all of three seconds from the time she ripped the top of the bag for the spices to scorch my eyes from across the SUV.
“Holy shit, Zola, what’s in that?”
She stuck her nose in the bag and inhaled. “Oh my, that smells like good food.” She pulled out a chunk and started gnawing at it. “Want some?” she asked around a mouth full of fire cow.
“Ah, I think I’ll stick to Crunch ’n Munch, thanks.” I grabbed a handful of crunchy goodness and raised my eyebrows to emphasize my point.
Zola stared at me for a moment and then looked at the box of Crunch ’n Munch. “How is it you’re not fat, Damian? The crap you eat, good lord, boy!”
I smiled and ate some more and followed it all with a Mountain Dew chaser.
* * *
By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Elephant Rocks State Park, I was ready to get out of the car. I was extremely ready to get out of the car. “Bloody hell, if I have to listen to that damned whistling for another minute.” I slammed the door and stretched until little flashing lights threatened my consciousness. I put my hand on the Blazer and groaned.
“You’re worse than an old woman, boy.”
I smiled and glanced at Zola as my vision cleared. The rear hatch opened with a metallic pop when I hit the button on the remote. Zola had her hands in the back, pulling out her cane, before I’d even taken a step in that direction. “We need anything else?” I asked as I pulled out a backpack filled with water and snacks and weapons.
“No, Ah don’t believe so.” She adjusted the sleeve on her gray cloak and rested her right hand on top of her cane. “Ah am sure Aeros will remember me.”
“Uh-huh, and if not?”
She shrugged. “Well, we won’t have to worry about it for long.” She tapped her chin. “On a lighter note, he would immortalize our names and the date he crushed us.”
“Lighter note.” I rolled my eyes and said, “Awesome.” I gave her a plastic grin as I slammed the hatch.
We walked up the parking lot, crunching on loose gravel and bits of torn up pavement, as we made our way to the entrance hut. Hut is the only word I had for it. It was stout and open at the sides like a pavilion. Inside the awful and almost offensive green colored walls, you could read about the fascinating history of stuff I just didn’t care about at that moment. We passed through the small hut without a second glance.
Zola took the lead and I followed her onto the asphalt path as the shade of the woods closed over our heads. We veered right at the first fork we came to, following the thin yellow rope that designated some of the less defined parts of the trail. Red granite boulders the size of cars and trailers were strewn about, resting peacefully among the trees.
A light wind rustled the leaves above us and Zola’s cane cracked each time it hit clean asphalt between the dirt and leaves. Sunbathing lizards occasionally scampered away while birds followed us in the tree tops. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
Zola looked back and said, “Good air?”
“It’s insane,” I said as I nodded. “I never really think about it when I’m in the city, but this just so much better.”
She turned back to the path. “It is much cleaner this far from all the vehicles and factories, yes.”
A short time later the path sloped upward and the real showstoppers came into view. We slowed as we crested a rise onto a gently sloping plain of granite littered with a variety of boulders, some the size of houses. Moss decorated the terrain in sporadic colonies, but most of the rocks were bare and desolate as the moon.
Zola stopped as we came within a few feet of some moderate sized pools of water on top of the granite hill. I walked around her as she kneeled before one of the larger pools. I had to get a better look at the larger rocks. Some of them seemed precariously balanced, ready to break fre
e and roll away at any moment.
I hadn’t been to the park since Sam and I were kids. I found the names easily enough; bold letters carved into the granite surfaces. It didn’t appear many names had been added since the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Our parents told us miners or quarrymen had carved their names into the stone. I glanced back at Zola, then down at the names and shivered. My hand ran along the smooth surface of one of the larger boulders I remembered Sam crawling on. The picture was on the wall at my apartment. I smiled and made my way back to Zola.
“Those the names you were talking about?” I asked as I thrust my thumb back toward the carvings.
Her laugh was low. “Yes, boy, those are the names.”
“There doesn’t seem to be any recent ones.”
She leaned back and cocked an eyebrow at me. “And how many commoners do you think are walking about with the knowledge to awaken and anger the Guardian of this place?” She waved her hand in dismissal and turned her attention back to the pool.
There was an arrangement of smooth pebbles at the bottom of the water, only a handful of stones. I didn’t think much of it until a dull, yellow-green glow began to rise up between them. Gentle wisps waved from each stone and reached out to other wisps. The tiny fronds of light wound about each other and began to resemble a pattern.
“Ehwaz, Uruz.” A glyph appeared within the pool. It was shaped like a jagged capital M and made of dozens of the glowing, pale yellow-green wisps. The glyph dissolved and another rose between the pebbles. It looked like a lowercase n with the left edge higher than the right and a sharp line joining the top of each side.
The pool boiled without heat. Bubbles of light intensified and rose above the surface of the water, dozens piling upon dozens more. The mass expanded and began to dull into a red rocky surface. My jaw fell open as the top of the granite surface formed two deep recesses and a wiry crack below them. It was a face. The red granite solidified slowly from the top down as the light began to fade from the bubbling mass.
The earth spoke. “Zola Adannaya,” its face ground and cracked into a fractured grin, “you have been away long.” Eyes appeared in the black sockets. Each was formed of dense yellow-green light.
“Aeros, lord.” Zola bowed her head.
The earth laughed. The Guardian pulled his left arm from the shimmering pool of water and light before doing the same with his right. He raised himself to the sound of grinding rocks and settled the rounded boulders of his body on the edge of the water with his hands laid across his knees. His feet and shins stretched far deeper into the pool than the bottom had been a moment before. “Such formalities, my old friend.” He turned his head, his eyes locked on my feet before they slowly rose to my face. “If you leave your mouth open much longer, you may be dining on insects.” His granite face cracked into a smile again and he slapped his knee to the sound of thunder, shaking the granite plain we were standing on. Aeros’s eyes trailed back to Zola. “Come, friend. Introduce me to your pupil.”
“You are most perceptive,” Zola said as she cracked Aeros on the knee with her cane.
“Mmm, ’tis a curse, to be sure.”
“My pupil is Damian Valdis Vesik.”
Aeros laughed and the ground shook again. “I have heard much of you, mortal.” His luminescent eyes locked onto my own and didn’t shift. “You are of much interest to the old gods.” I assume my expression asked for me, because he responded to the question I didn’t ask. “They grow bored and easily amused.” He smiled again.
I took a knee and bowed my head. “I am most honored, lord.”
He waved his hand in dismissal. The motion reminded me of Zola so much I had to flash a smile at her.
“So, friend Adannaya and friend Vesik, what brings you to my lands?” He turned his gaze from Zola to me and back.
“The vessels, Aeros. I fear the time for hiding them has passed.”
“Mmm, most unfortunate. Do you request the vessel?”
Zola nodded. “Yes.”
“Then it shall be yours.” Aeros leaned forward and placed a bulky granite hand into the glowing field of tendrils at the bottom of the pool. A small silver pendant materialized on his enormous palm as he pulled his hand free of the wisps and water. “As we agreed, the vessel is safe.” He turned his wrist and dropped the pendant into Zola’s hand. The chain hissed as it pooled into her hand.
She bowed her head again and said, “Thank you.”
Aeros nodded and shifted his body on the stones in complete silence. The lack of sound intrigued me, the antithesis of the grinding thunderclaps that accompanied his earlier movement.
“There is much worry and unrest among our kind,” Aeros said. “I do not believe your visit here to be a coincidence.” He paused and moved his head to stare at the setting sun, the grinding soundtrack returning to his motions. “You should depart before the park rangers find you.” Aeros’s face split into a wide grin and he laughed again, sending ripples across the pools of water and vibrating the nearby trees.
“I leave you to your travels, friends.” He turned to me and nodded. “Young one, you are welcome on my land. Any friend of Adannaya is a welcomed ally.”
“Thank you, Aeros.” I bowed my head.
When I looked up he inclined his head before turning to Zola. “Quest well, friend Adannaya.”
She reached out and touched the knuckles of his left hand, laid across a granite boulder. “Rest well, friend Aeros.”
He nodded and sank into the shallow pool. His lower body dispersed into the luminescence, followed by his arms and torso and finally the top of his red granite head. The wisps of light flickered and vanished. Only pebbles and water remained. Zola shifted the pebbles into a random pattern and took a step back.
She dangled the pendant from her right hand and grimaced.
“So, that’s it?” I said.
She nodded.
“What is it, exactly?”
“A demon trapped in a soulstone.”
“Jesus, that’s a soulstone?” I scratched my chin and stared at the silver pendant. “Ah, right. And we’re going to do what with said demon?”
“The stone is sealed within the silver. It is a tiny stone.” She dropped the plain silver demon talisman into her pocket and stood up.
“Let’s head on to Fort Davidson.” I glanced at the sun, sitting just above the horizon. “We can get there before sunset if we hurry.”
Chapter Eleven
I watched the small town streets blip by as we came off the highway again. It felt like I could see from one end of the town to the other in the dim streetlights. Small buildings, both homes and businesses, lined the streets on ample lots set back from the road. There were hills and forests in the distance, almost black in the fading orange sun.
Normally, other than the dead, I don’t see things or sense much unless I try to. As we drove further from the highway, something was strong enough to brush against my senses and grab hold like a determined tick. It built slowly, pressure seeping into my temples.
“What town is this, Zola?”
“Pilot Knob.”
“What the hell is here? It’s so quiet, but something’s here. I feel like we shouldn’t be here.”
“Ah don’t know,” she said as she shrugged. “You may feel the presences at the fort. We’re getting close. This has never been a bustling town.”
I let the worry slip away, but something continued to gnaw at my senses.
We left the rental outside the borders of the park. Closing time had passed and I had no desire to explain our presence to any park rangers. We crossed the well-kept grass at a fast clip, slowed our pace by a group of ancient cannons, and came up to the remnants of the fort.
There wasn’t much left, and I’m being generous. A low border of earthworks a few feet in height was all that greeted us. It was surrounded by a fairly well maintained field of grass and sparse trees standing in stark contrast to the raging red sunset.
A shiver tore down my
spine as something smashed into my aura. I flicked my gaze across the field, and the fort, but could see no one.
“Something’s here, Zola.”
“Come boy, it was below the thirteenth cannon.” She glanced at me before she crossed the earthworks in a few easy strides, belying her age. I turned to check behind us but my eyes still found nothing. By the time I turned back to Zola, she was on the ground digging through the grass with a small spade she must have had tucked into the folds of her gray cloak.
“That’s where it is?”
She nodded.
My mind wandered, leaving my immediate concerns behind as I tried to imagine what she saw there so long ago. The walls of the fort, the gunfire, the terror. “What was it like? During the battle?”
She paused and wiped a large clump of mud off on the grass beside her hole. “It was horrible Damian. Like any battle, it was horrible.” She rubbed the back of her neck and started digging again. “Ah want to leave this place. The ghosts … they are too much.”
I started to help her dig. “That’s what I’m feeling, isn’t it?”
Zola nodded. “Look, if you want.”
There was no delay, almost no effort needed to focus my vision so I could truly see. Death was strong around us, and the hidden scene tearing into our reality was a distressing panorama of gray and black. I saw the soldiers. They stood laden with arms and uniforms soiled by dirt and grime. I stumbled backwards as the shock of the vision buckled my leg and dropped me to a knee. The walls of the Fort Davidson rose around us but stayed translucent enough to see the soldiers outside.
“Zola, what the hell’s going on, I can see the fort and the cannons and the people … the people.” My voice fell to a whisper. “There’s so many.”
Zola laughed without humor and continued digging, her body invading the barrel of a ghost cannon. “Ah’ll have to take you to Gettysburg, boy.”
The mere thought forced the air out of my lungs in a sharp exhale. I sank my hand into a small clump of grass and dirt as I pushed myself back up to my feet and raised my eyes to find a ghost staring at me. He was young. He was so young. A Springfield rifle was slung over his shoulder and his eyes didn’t leave mine. I took a step to the right and his eyes followed me. There was an intelligence to his ghost I’d never seen before. As my focus moved over his shoulder I noticed the soldiers on the wall were staring at me, as were the soldiers on the ground and even those beyond the wall. They were all inhumanly still.
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