by Gunhus, Jeff
With a roar, the dragons stampeded toward me, staying side-by-side as if they were joined at the hip.
I turned and sprinted as hard as I could toward the gates, praying I had judged both the distance and the dragons’ speed accurately.
I ran, my legs burning, my ears ringing from the roars behind me. I was twenty yards from the gate. Fifteen yards. But I could feel the hot breath of the dragons on my neck. Ten yards. I didn’t dare look back. It would just slow me down. At this point, I was either going to make it or not. All I could do was run. Five yards. I felt a blast of breath and something tug on my armor. I jerked to the side and the sensation went away. Whichever dragon had nearly gotten me roared in frustration. That roar slowed them down just a little, and a little was all I needed.
I reached the Citadel entrance, looking up at the row of jagged teeth at the bottom of the massive gate that hung suspended over the opening. I remembered shuddering the first time I had crossed the threshold, thinking about that gate coming loose and slamming down on top of me. Now, the gate was my only hope.
I ran to the heavy chain that held the gate in place and struck it as hard as I could with my sword. Nothing. I didn’t even leave a mark.
Both dragons stuck their heads into the gate, their long necks making them look like two giant serpents, writhing back and forth as they looked for me.
I struck the chain again. Nothing.
As if sensing my desperation, the dragons pushed further into the gate. They were so big that they wedged together, neither willing to let the other go first. They snapped and bit at each other, fighting for dominance. I knew as soon as they sorted it out, I was a goner. With me gone, my friends would be abandoned, my father would die alone in a dungeon cell and Ren Lucre would be free to launch his war against the human world.
Only once you know what you stand for will your true power be known.
It was Aquinas’s voice.
I heard it as clearly as if she stood next to me.
What do you stand for?
I closed my eyes and pictured everything that was important to me. My friends. My family. The Templar insignia. They were interwoven with one another. They were all interwoven with who I was. I wasn’t fighting against Ren Lucre or against the Creach who wanted to kill me. I was fighting for something. Something greater than myself. Sure, I fought for the people I loved, but it was somehow bigger than that. It had to be. If I failed, millions of strangers would suffer at the hands of Ren Lucre, not just the people I knew.
And that’s when it struck me. To make this journey, to have the strength to win, it couldn’t be about me, or about my friends, or about saving my father, or even about stopping Ren Lucre. The why behind everything I did had to be bigger. In the middle of all the madness, I had to stand for something greater than myself.
Only once you know what you stand for will your true power be known.
What do you stand for?
I finally understood what Aquinas had meant. I whispered the word out loud, only for me to hear, only for me to know.
I opened my eyes.
The world zoomed into a sudden, perfect clarity. I felt the hot breath of the dragons behind me. Tasted the saltiness of my own sweat and blood in my mouth. Heard the leather of my gloves creak as my hand tightened on the hilt of my sword.
With a cry, I swung down with everything I had.
My sword struck with a burst of sparks and cut straight through the chain.
The chain above the cut whipped upward as the gears holding the gate in place spun loose.
The dragons sensed the danger and tried to back out, but they got in each other’s way and couldn’t move fast enough. Both of their necks still poked through the opening. They screamed and hissed at one another as the gate crashed downward.
With a final thunderous BOOM! the giant gate crashed down on the shrieking dragons. The weight smashed them into the ground, followed by a vicious crunch as the jagged teeth buried into their flesh and severed both of their heads.
I stumbled back on my heels, still not ready to believe it had actually worked. The two dragons stared at me blankly with their dead, red eyes.
It was over.
The Academy was safe again.
We had won the day.
Even so, I knew in my heart that this was only the first of many battles. What today had really shown was that Ren Lucre would go to any lengths to destroy the Black Guard and to find me. He was not going to go easily. Finding the Jerusalem Stones was more important than ever.
The adrenaline rush of the battle slowly wore off and a wave of fatigue hit me so hard I dropped to one knee. After going non-stop for nearly two days, between the Trial of the Cave and the battle for the Academy, everything hurt. I felt like I could lay down right where I was and sleep for a week.
But voices outside were calling my name. Only a few at first. And then more. The howls of wolves added to the sound. Fighting through the pain, I stood up. There was a small metal door in the bottom corner of the gate, large enough to allow a single man to enter at a time without having to raise the entire gate.
I walked up to it and threw back the heavy bolts that sealed it.
When I opened the door, morning sunlight poured in, nearly blinding me after the darkness inside the Citadel. But it was the wave of sound that caught me most off-guard. All of the hunters and all of the wolves had gathered outside the gates and when I walked out they erupted in the loudest cheer I’d ever heard. Will and T-Rex ran up and hugged me. They were talking but I couldn’t hear anything they were saying.
Daniel limped up, favoring one of his legs and with his bandage falling off exposing the open wound that had once been his nose. But he was otherwise unharmed. He grinned and held out his hand. I shook it and he pulled me into a tight embrace. He held my hand up in victory and the sound of the cheering swelled. Some of the hunters parted and Bacho carried Aquinas forward, a field dressing now covering the shoulder where the arrow had struck her. I ran to her.
“I thought you were dead,” I said.
“Takes more that a little goblin arrow to kill me,” Aquinas said.
“Should be in bed restin’ is what I say,” Bacho grumbled.
She smiled at me kindly and I nodded my head toward her in respect. I could tell she knew something important had happened to me. That something had changed.
“So you found what you stand for,” she whispered. “Good. Now keep that inside where it will have the most power. You will need all the strength you can get before this is finished.”
“I still have so many questions,” I said. “About my mother. About Ren Lucre’s plans.”
“All in good time, young hunter,” Aquinas said. “All in good time. For now, enjoy the moment and share it with your comrades and friends.”
Eva broke through the crowd, then hesitated when she finally saw me. We walked slowly toward one another until we were face-to-face. I don’t know if it was because I was so tired that I could barely stand up, or because I had faced certain death more times than I could count, or because I thought I had lost her, but I decided to ignore the fact that everyone we knew was watching us and just kiss her right there and then.
But just as I reached out for her, Will and T-Rex circled around us and locked us in a group hug. Eva and I made eye contact and grinned. Whatever moment there might have been had passed and I couldn’t help wonder if it would ever come back again.
I left those thoughts behind and gave into the pure joy of sharing this moment with my best friends. Will, T-Rex, Eva and I laughed together, relishing the fact that for the second time we had overcome impossible odds to live to fight another day.
Some of the instructors pulled me away, hefted me up on their shoulders and paraded me through the crowd. I looked back over my shoulder and saw Eva smiling at me.
This might have only been the first battle, and there might have been a long war ahead, but at that moment I’d never felt more alive.
I was Jack Temp
lar, Monster Hunter.
And I was ready to hunt.
Chapter Nineteen
I waited for Tiberon as he slowly walked among his pack of wolves one last time. Eva, Will and T-Rex stood next to me while the rest of the hunters stayed inside as I had asked them. We grimly looked at the piles of goblin carcasses spread out across the battlefield. There would be time to clear them away later. Right now, it was time to both fulfill a debt and to have a promise fulfilled.
Tiberon gave one last deep bow to the wolves gathered around us before walking up the hill toward us. I fingered the Templar Ring nervously, not quite sure what was supposed to happen next.
You fought bravely, young Templar, Tiberon’s voice echoed in my head.
“You didn’t do too bad yourself,” I replied. “For a seven-hundred-year-old hunter, that is.”
A deep, chugging sound filled my head. It took me a second to realize Tiberon was laughing. Finally, the sound faded away and Tiberon turned serious.
As I promised, I will tell you the locations of the Jerusalem Stones and where your father is being held. But before I do, I must warn you that pursuing either will likely lead to your death. He looked over my shoulder at Eva, Will and T-Rex. Or the deaths of those you love.
I nodded. There had been so much death and destruction already because of me, but I knew my enemy. I knew that unless we fought him, he would hunt us mercilessly. “I understand,” I said.
Tiberon placed a paw on my shoulder.
I’m afraid you will not like what I have to show you.
A flurry of images flashed in front of me. They happened in quick sequence, one short scene after another. It didn’t take long for me to obtain everything I needed to know. Then the images ended and I staggered backward, gasping for breath. My heart sank. The difficulty of the task ahead of me was worse than I ever could have imagined. In fact, it seemed impossible.
I warned you that you would not like what you saw. What you do with this information is now up to you, Tiberon said.
I steadied myself and stood in front of the great wolf. “You have kept your word and I will keep mine,” I said. “Are you ready?”
Tiberon glanced over his shoulder at the wolves standing in the tree line. It was a long, lingering look, and for a moment I thought he might change his mind. But he turned back to me and nodded. I am ready .
“Tiberon of the Black Guard, trusted friend, comrade-in-arms,” I said, trying to match what I had seen Jacques de Molay do all those years ago. “You have served your penance and restored your honor. As bearer of the Templar Ring, I release you from your oath. Go in peace and find the rest you deserve.”
On impulse, I reached out and touched the ring to Tiberon’s chest, right in the center of the white cross. There was a loud crack and flash of light where the ring touched him. Tiberon closed his eyes. The air around him vibrated and buzzed with energy. Slowly, he transformed out of his wolf body, his hair pulling back into his skin, his limbs shortening, his face growing smaller as his features became defined.
The vibration in the air intensified, distorting our view of him. But I was able to catch a glimpse of him for just a second through the energy field, fully returned to his human form. We made eye contact. He smiled, placed his fist to his chest, then stretched it out in front of him with the hunter’s salute.
I returned the gesture as the entire energy field lifted off the ground, swirled like a small tornado, then dissipated into the wind as if it had never existed.
Tiberon was gone.
The wolves let out a single, unified howl to say farewell to their friend and protector, and then retreated slowly back into the forest.
I turned back to my friends, each of them speechless from what they had just witnessed. It was Eva who finally spoke.
“Did he tell you what you needed to know?” she asked.
I nodded. “It’s not good news.”
“Tell us,” Will said.
I let out a long sigh and described as best I could what I had seen.
“Ren Lucre gave a Jerusalem Stone to each of the Creach Lords for safe-keeping,” I said. “To get them back, we need to find each of the Lords, figure out where they have hidden their Stone, then somehow get it away from them.”
“The Creach Lords?” T-Rex asked, looking puzzled.
“The vampires, zombies, demons, werewolves and the Lesser Creach all have their own Lord,” Will said.
We all looked at him strangely.
“Just because it looks like I’m sleeping in class, doesn’t mean I’m actually asleep,” he said.
“So we have to go find all these guys?” T-Rex asked.
“Not we,” I said. “I have to. And from what Tiberon showed me, having the Jerusalem Stones is the only way I’m getting into the dungeon where my dad is being kept.”
“So, it’s settled,” said Eva. “We’ll go for the Jerusalem Stones first, and then your father.”
“But, I just said that…” I stammered.
“Sounds good,” Will agreed.
“Can we at least have lunch before we go?” T-Rex asked.
“Guys, I appreciate it, but I can’t ask you to go,” I said. “It’s too dangerous.”
Eva put her arms around Will and T-Rex. “You don’t need to ask us to go, because we’re going no matter what. Right guys?”
Will and T-Rex nodded. I grinned, secretly thankful I wouldn’t have to face this challenge alone. I felt blessed to have such great friends. “All right,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
“Not without me, you’re not,” Daniel said, limping out from the Academy gate. “What? You think I’m going to let you have all the glory, Templar? Besides, you’re going to need as many swords as you can get.”
“And cool gadgets,” Xavier chimed in, stepping out from behind Daniel. “Need I remind you that more wars are won because of technological advantages than anything else. That happens to be my specialty.”
I could tell that arguing would be futile. We welcomed Daniel and Xavier into our small group. That made six of us. I wondered if and when we were successful with our quest, whether all six of us would survive. Even with this dark thought, I was happy to have these five companions for what was sure to be an incredible adventure. We walked back toward the Academy gates.
“So, which Creach Lord are we going after first?” Eva asked.
“I was thinking the Lord of the Vampires,” I said.
“Isn’t that Ren Lucre?” asked T-Rex.
“No,” Xavier chimed in. “Ren Lucre is the Lord of all the Creach. The Vampire Lord is a different vampire entirely. And, she’s technically a vampiress. Don’t you guys listen in class?”
“He’s right,” I said. “And Tiberon gave me a strong image of where I could find her.”
“From the sounds of it, we have to go to all five eventually,” Daniel said. “I guess it doesn’t matter where we start.”
“Vampires it is then,” said Will happily. “This is gonna be awesome.”
“If by awesome you mean filled with incredibly dangerous monsters who want to kill us, then sure,” Eva said.
“Yeah,” grinned Will. “Like I said, awesome.”
“But we’re still eating lunch first, right?” T-Rex asked.
We all shared a good a laugh and walked back through the Academy walls. The hunters and Ratlings worked together clearing the debris from the training grounds. Aquinas and Bacho stood in the middle of them, directing the efforts. I still hadn’t had a chance to thank Aquinas yet. Her advice that I wouldn’t know my true power until I discovered what I stood for had proven all too true. And, just as she had advised, I kept my realization to myself, stored away as my personal touchstone. Even with my new companions signed onto the quest, I knew the trials ahead would be more challenging than anything I had yet faced. I didn’t know if I was ready for it, but because of Aquinas, I felt certain I was doing it for the right reason.
Aquinas told me once that a hunter armed with the right why co
uld endure any how .
I knew the adventure ahead would test that idea to its core. As I looked at my friends and at all the hunters and Ratlings working together to rebuild the Academy grounds, I prayed that she was right, and that we were ready. Because, like it or not, we were about to find out.
A Last Note
As I warned you from the beginning, the act of reading this book makes you part of the monster hunter world. The Creach in your area have already sensed that you have this book, so you must be alert at all times.
I’ve set up a website to keep you posted on what’s happening and to help teach you how to fight:
WWW.JACKTEMPLAR.COM.
The password for the secret area is MONSTER.
See you there. But watch out…there are monsters everywhere!
Do Your Duty, Come What May!
-Jack Templar
From the Author
Thank you for joining me in the world of Jack Templar and the Creach monsters. It’s been my honor to get to know Jack and help him get the word out about the dangers that lurk in the shadows of our world.
If you enjoyed the book, I would appreciate a review on any of the numerous online sites where readers gather, particularly Amazon.com. If you are a young hunter, make sure to get your parent’s permission first. This helps bring attention to the book and alert others who could benefit from having their eyes opened to the reality of the monster threat.
I look forward to sharing Book 3 with you… Jack Templar and the Lord Of The Vampires .
Do your duty, come what may!
Jeff Gunhus
About the Author
Jeff Gunhus is the author of the Middle Grade/YA series The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. His book Reaching Your Reluctant Reader has helped hundreds of parents create avid readers. As a father of five, he leads an active lifestyle with his wife Nicole in Maryland by trying to constantly keep up with their kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel…always on the lookout of Creach monsters that might be out to get him! Come say hello at…