Of Sun & Moon (Midnight Guardian Series, Book 1)

by Bryna Butler

  Chapter 21: Until Midnight

  Colby gripped the token, held his breath, and closed his eyes as they stepped forward. He felt the gust of wind bash his face. At first he thought it was just part of passing through the tear, but when the wind didn’t stop he opened his eyes to see that they were standing on the roof of a skyscraper. He remembered this place from a book. School, of course, that’s where his true talent soared. A nearly photographic memory served him well in his academic pursuits. That’s what he offered to this team now.

  “Where are we?” August asked taking a protective stance in front of Kiera and Colby.

  “We haven’t crossed the barrier.” Colby said with a sideways glance to Keira, “It’s Dubai. I recognize it from our Geography book. Over there, the building that looks like a sailboat, that’s the Burj Al Arab. And then over there in the water, you can see one of the Palm islands.”

  “Dubai, that’s in the Middle East, right?” Keira asked.

  Colby nodded in the affirmative.

  “It’s 11:45,” Colby noted by his watch under Dubai’s bright morning sun. “I hope that he meant midnight, our time. Why does it have to be so close? How long till we get to Bov?”

  “That’s Emperor Gammen to you,” boomed a voice from behind them.

  They pivoted to see the great Bov Gammen in a ceremonial, black hooded cloak with tribal beads and black feathers hanging from the neck. He appeared to be roughly the same height as August, as opposed to the three foot, average mogdoc that crouched at Gammen’s left side as if ready to pounce. The Emperor’s skin, including his face, was completely covered.

  A rolling office chair was positioned behind the Emperor. Brooke sat there defeated and gagged. Her arms were lashed loosely at the wrists to the armrests. Her feet were bound together. A mogdoc flanked her at each position; north, south, east, and west. Even in her desperate state, she managed to lift her head at their approach.

  “August, what a lovely surprise,” Gammen snarled. Of course, he was not at all surprised to see him.

  August showed absolutely no emotion. If Colby hadn’t known better, he would have thought that Mr. Ryan was bored. “There is no need for niceties, Emperor. We are here for a fair exchange, his charge for your hostage.”

  “You know, August, I thought your young one would prove to be more of a challenge. Yet, here you are, bringing him and his charge right to my doorstep. What service!”

  “What did you do with Bobby?” Colby demanded. August held his hand in front of Colby’s chest in warning.

  “No August, it is a fair question. Listen to me, boy, you may sympathize with these weak creatures, but you will find no tolerance for them here. A master of sport and a master of science, both receiving assistance from you, it only seemed logical that one may be your charge. Of course, the girl slipped through my fingers, but that is of no consequence.”

  “The boy, what did you do with the boy?”

  “The boy was not a charge, so he was of no use to me.”

  “He means to say that Bobby is dead,” August whispered to Colby. Gammen laughed madly at the sight of Colby’s disgust.

  “Odd,” started Gammen. “Your progeny should have known better than to tie himself emotionally to such frail creatures. He made it only too easy. But, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” He smiled widely showing off an intimidating pair of fangs. “How’s your delicate Bianca? She tasted so delicious last time we met.”

  August sneered and stepped in front of Colby. “Do we have a deal?”

  “Always a pleasure, August,” Gammen laughed and snapped his fingers. “You first.”

  The mogdoc warrior at Gammen’s side responded to the nonverbal cue. He moved toward Keira. Keeping to her role, Keira put up a weak fight. The mogdoc brought her to the Emperor’s side. Both of them kept their eyes on August. So, it was easy for Keira to slip the ring under her boot.

  “Now you,” August demanded.

  Emperor Gammen pulled back his hood and clutched Keira to bring her closer. “I don’t think so. I also seek the child of sun and moon. Thank you for bringing him to me.”

  The hood of his cloak fell as he threw back his head in an over-dramatized maniacal laugh. Everyone’s eyes were on the supreme evil leader. Colby was dumbfounded. The Emperor was human. Actually, he just looked human. Colby felt a sudden pang of déjà vu. He saw something familiar in Gammen’s face, but could not place it. The Emperor caught notice of Colby’s gaze and glared back at him.

  Keira made use of the distraction to drop the ring and kick it back to Brooke with her right foot. At the same time, she pulled the poisoned dagger from its concealed sheath at her right wrist. She thrust it forward. Gammen blocked and in retaliation, shoved her into the roof access door with tremendous strength. The heavy, steel door bent under the force. Keira’s body lay limp at its base.

  “Noooo!,” howled Colby.

  “Go now!” August ordered. “I’ll get the girls.”

  Gammen knelt beside Keira’s motionless body and pulled the dagger from her hand. The mogdoc guard moved into position between his master and August. “Dead! Dead! Death has marked you all!” it screeched in pure joy.

  Colby pulled the crossbow from his back and took aim on the howling mogdoc. His first shot was short, dropping before it reached its target. The creature stormed at him, but he was ready. His second shot was perfect, straight into its abdomen. The force of the arrow pushed the fiend back through the air, just preventing his claws from reaching Colby. It fell and writhed in pain. Colby knelt over the creature and stabbed it again with his last arrow, a death blow to the heart.

  Colby looked up just in time to see the steel lock into his bicep. A sharp pang ensued and he dropped the crossbow. “Aaahh!” he screamed as he pulled the dagger from his arm. He lifted it weakly and lunged at Gammen. The Emperor caught his wrist and yanked his arm high into the air. The copper token pulled out of his waistband and clinked against the bracelet chain. There it dangled from his belt in plain view.

  “You’re the charge! How delightful,” Gammen laughed. His joy reflected in his eyes. “Let’s see if your guardian can protect you on my side of the barrier.”

  Gammen slashed a new rip in space with one clawed hand while he grasped Colby in the other. “Bring the girl,” he ordered as he dragged Colby through the barrier. August, now kneeling beside his daughter’s broken body, looked to Colby with regret.

  Colby was too scared to close his eyes this time. The little light from the city rooftop flashed and was suddenly gone. When his eyes adjusted, he could see that he was now in a gigantic underground cavern. Torches lined each side of the room. An underground lake took up three quarters of the room. The smell of must and decay filled the chamber. The floor was thick with mud. “Muddy footprints,” Colby thought aloud.

  The remaining members of the Sect of Low followed, each with one hand supporting Brooke’s chair and the other hand securing her arms, as if she could get away. They quickly re-tied her to a pole planted at the water’s edge. They resumed their guard positions; north, east, west and south.

  “Gammen!”

  The Emperor yanked Colby around to see August standing at the threshold.

  “My, my, you are persistent,” the emperor hissed. “I was so sure it was the boy, but no, a girl. You thought a little girl, your little girl, would stop me.”

  “I’LL stop you.” August moved toward him pulling a sword from its sheath on his back.

  Using a single hand, Gammen flung Colby onto the cavern floor. Mud splattered around him when he hit the ground.

  “You will try,” Gammen sneered as he lifted the stolen, poisoned dagger.

  Their blades clashed with such force that sparks flashed across the dark cavern. Gammen was slightly more skilled as a swordsman, but August’s agility made up the difference. Their steel blades met over and over. The mogdocs did not move from Brooke. They grunted and jeered at the display of strength before them until Brooke
screamed out. Distracted, August dropped his guard. Gammen took advantage and lashed out with his claws, slicing August’s neck from chin to clavicle. He cried out and dropped to his knees, clutching his neck. Gammen used the dagger to fling the sword out of his hands. Blood poured from August’s wounds. Brooke, just a few feet away, struggled against her ropes, behind the circle of mogdoc elite.

  Gammen leaned over the weakened August, dagger still in hand. “Your prophecy dies today.”

  “Not today,” Colby said as he plunged August’s sword into Gammen’s back.

  “Yes, today,” Gammen said smiling. He did not even bother to dislodge the sword from his back before shoving Colby into the air with a mere flick of his wrist. Colby soared across the cavern, falling into the murky waters of the underground lake. Gammen turned his attention back to August. He placed one hand behind August’s head and lifted it. The poisoned dagger was still in Gammen’s possession. August closed his eyes as Gammen pulled back the dagger to deliver the final blow.

  “Let him go. It’s me that you want,” said a weak voice from the threshold.

  “So true, little girl. Don’t worry; you will also taste death at the tip of my dagger.”

  His left hand still supporting August’s head, he pulled back the dagger again. However, as he thrust it down, the air around August shimmered and in the final second, his transformation was complete. It was a second that came just in time for August; a second too early for Gammen. Where the injured father once laid, a gray mouse scurried away. And with his intended target gone, Gammen plunged the poisoned dagger into his own hand.

  The Emperor cried out in pain. He was so focused on his hand that he did not see Keira until her boot was in his face. She kicked so hard that he flipped head over heels and his back hit the cavern floor. She picked up the dagger and held it to Gammen’s throat. “It’s done,” Keira said and thrust the dagger into his chest.

  She jumped as a drenched Colby splashed behind her and pulled himself onto the wet cavern floor. Keira yanked the dagger from Gammen’s dying body and swiftly moved to Colby’s side, stopping only to gently pick up an injured, gray mouse and place him in the big front pocket of her hoodie. She arrived at Colby’s side for support. He clumsily draped over her shoulder. She looked into his eyes, but his sights were set beyond her. “Brooke!”

  The poison had moved very slowly. Gammen used the extra time to drag his unresponsive torso across the cavern floor to the hostage’s pole. The four mogdocs, still in their positions, were now bowing. The Emperor was bleeding heavily as the poison worked its way through his body. Though fatally wounded, he pushed himself to his knees. With a painful groan, he reached up to the ropes cutting into Brooke’s wrists and loosened them quickly with his claws, allowing her to fall forward.

  He softly kissed her cheek and with his last breath he turned and screamed at his enemies, “The House of Gammen rules forever! Long live Broo Gammen, Empress of the Mogdoc Empire!“

  Brooke rose, letting her father fall to the ground. She smirked then she lifted a well-manicured finger and elegantly sliced a tear in the space before her. She and the remaining four members of the Sect of Low vanished into the rip as her father took his last breath.

  Colby suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy. He lifted his hand. It was transparent. He looked to Keira as she faded away behind an amplified sonic boom.