Balor screamed in rage, pressing one of his huge six-fingered hands against his wounded face before turning his attention to Pete.
“I’m coming, Pete!” Garrett shouted, but Balor swung out with the back of his hand, connecting with Garrett’s side and sending him tumbling in a backward roll toward the chamber wall.
Breanne scanned the area around her for something to throw. She saw Lenny coming to his senses after hitting his head during his fight with Janis. He pushed himself to his feet, rubbing the back of his head with a look of confusion. When he finally looked up, his face swiveled from the giant to the dragon realizing with horror both were awake.
“Lenny, help Pete!” Breanne yelled.
Lenny hardened his face with determination, set his jaw tight, and ran toward Apep.
Breanne picked up a chunk of small stone from the broken column and hurled it at the giant. The throw flew true and cracked the giant on the back of the head.
Balor rolled to his hands and knees and pushed himself up, his one bulbous eye searching until he located the source of this new pain.
Breanne stood in front of the giant, weaponless.
Garrett got to his feet. “I’m coming, Bre!”
Apep spotted Lenny before he could get to him.
Lenny shouted a war cry that sounded a lot to Breanne like, “Baaaaaaallllllsss!”
Reaching out with his other hand, Apep grabbed Lenny with shadows, lifting him off his feet too.
Flames built in the dragon’s throat.
“No! Sylanth, wait!” Janis ordered.
Garrett got to Breanne just as the giant was picking up his foot, intent on stomping her down. There was nowhere to run. They were trapped between a giant and the wall. We’re going to die.
Just then Paul came skidding toward them from between the giant’s legs. In a smooth motion, he turned, facing the giant and reaching above his head just in time to catch the giant’s foot in both hands as it stomped down.
Paul wrestled with the giant’s foot as the beast fought for balance. He shouted up at the giant as he gave the foot a final shove, “Not today!”
The giant launched airborne, both upward and backward, his other foot coming off the ground.
“Holy shit!” Garrett cheered.
The giant fell back, landing awkwardly across the stone slab.
“Thanks, Paul,” Breanne started, but a different rumble pulled her attention away from the giant. She turned to find Janis staring down Apep in a now too familiar mumbling chant. With tears cutting wet trails down her face, she screamed the last of her chant. A violent eruption of roots burst from the floor beneath Apep, consuming his feet, then quickly spreading over the rest of his body. In the same instant, more roots came from the shadowed ceiling far above, tangling around his neck and wrists. Then the roots began receding, but they didn’t let go. Apep’s body was pulled taut as if he were on a medieval rack.
“What is this?!” Apep gagged out as his eyes ignited with rage.
Pete dropped to the floor, and Lenny dropped to his knees, gasping hungrily for air.
Behind Janis the false veil of confusion cleared from Sylanth’s mind like smoke on a windy day, and his voice echoed in Breanne’s mind. “Treachery!” both heads of the dragon gasped in unison as they sucked in long angry breaths of air. Their necks began to glow.
“Janis!” Pete croaked as he limped toward her, holding his side.
But she could no more hear Pete than she could the dragon behind her. Breanne screamed too and so did Lenny and Garrett, but it was no use.
Janis began to turn deep blueish red as she focused all her rage and power on her father. The roots wrapped Apep from head to toe, then came the thorns.
Breanne’s relief for the falling giant turned to terror as she watched Pete break into a staggering run across the chamber.
Garrett shouted, “No! Oh god, Pete! No! Doesn’t he see the dragon?!”
Breanne knew he only saw one thing – Janis.
Lenny began to run. “Pete!”
“Janis!” Pete shouted again.
This time Janis heard him, and all the rage fell from her face as Pete reached her. Breanne watched in horror as they opened their arms to each other, colliding in a hard embrace. Pete lifted her, spinning her in a circle. “I love you, Janis… I love you so goddamn much!”
Fire built in Sylanth’s throats.
She smiled back at him, hugging him just as tight. “I love you too, Petey!”
Breanne blinked slowly. In this moment no one else existed. There were no evil dark elf wizards, giants, or dragons. There was only Petey and Janis. As the same strange light began to build in both the dragons’ throats, Breanne knew no one could get to them in time. They might as well have been on the other side of the planet.
But then Pete’s face changed as he finally saw what Breanne saw. He saw the nightmare of glowing dragon throats and mouths stretched open. He saw the reason Garrett was screaming and why Lenny was frantically waving his arms. He saw dragon fire.
With her back to Sylanth, Janis couldn’t see dragon fire, but she didn’t need to. She saw the look on Pete’s face. In a second so impossibly brief she must have understood – she no longer held command over Sylanth. Janis forced a smile at Pete, one for him to remember her by. With a hard shove she pushed him back, creating enough space for what came next.
“No! Janis!” he shouted as he lunged for her, but she kicked him in the midsection, sending him careening backward several feet and onto his ass to slide even further away from her.
From both heads Sylanth’s open mouths exhaled out something far worse than hellfire, engulfing Janis in a concentrated torrent of brilliantly colored dragon fire.
Pete screamed.
Breanne dropped to her knees. “Oh, Janis. Oh, god no.”
34
Don’t Look Back
Wednesday, April 6 – God Stones Day 1
Rural Chiapas State, Mexico
Gabi wanted to scream but knew she would be just as dead as María if she did. Instead she floated in horrified weightlessness as María’s body drifted somewhere in the distance, sinking slowly into the shadows below.
Then her mother and father were beside her. Her mother’s eyes spoke to her, saying so much without ever saying anything. Don’t breathe, Gabi – no matter what, don’t breathe. It had only been thirty seconds, maybe forty-five, and she could hold her breath for several minutes, at least three. But her heart was beating so fast now.
The glow above them dissipated and once again they were in darkness. They waited as long as they could stand it before swimming up. Her father went first, breaking the surface and motioning Gabi and her mom up. They sucked in air, gasping for breath. The air smelled like rotting eggs and tasted even worse, but they drank it in greedily and they didn’t die.
A few meters away near the walkway, Fredy and Sarah treaded water, pulling long breaths.
Gabi startled as her mother choked out a sob. “María, she’s dead! I saw her die! Why wouldn’t she listen to me!? I tried – I swear I tried, but she wouldn’t listen!”
“Oh no, god, Itzel, no!” Sarah said.
Gabi felt her father’s strong, callused hand take hers as he led her and her mother toward the path. “You couldn’t do anything, Itzel. It isn’t your fault.” He turned to the others. “Everyone, swim to the footpath near the wall and let’s try to find cover.”
With the elevated platform and the walkway leading to the wall blocking her view, Gabi couldn’t see anything. Then her father pulled her onto the walkway. She stared, unable to look away as her eyes found the giant, who now stood motionless against the wall as if waiting for something. Waiting for something else Gabi had seen on the wall painting.
No sooner did they get their footing then the source of the fire showed itself. Gabi’s legs buckled at the sight of it and she collapsed, skinning her knees on the stone. A creature that looked like a giant dinosaur with wings burst through the opening, screeching in a
voice that sounded both intelligent and completely incomprehensible. The thing was monstrous and just as tall as the giant, which leapt from behind the wall, swinging what looked like an enormous axe at the creature.
Everyone jolted into motion when Sarah screamed a word as impossible as the creatures standing before them, “Dragon!”
They ran for the wall, Gabi’s father dragging her like a limp sack of potatoes. “Get your feet under you, Gabi! We have to move!”
The dragon ducked its head under the swing of the giant’s axe, before belching out a roar of flame.
Firelight reflected off the dragon’s ebony scales, sparkling like a chain mail coat made of onyx diamonds. The creature was as beautiful as it was terrifying.
The water came only to the giant’s knees. Even so it dove out of the way of the flame, belly flopping into the water. The flame hit the wall, then deflected in both directions, leaving pieces of the stone monolith burning.
Fortunately for Gabi and the others, the flames dissipated before crossing the distance to them. Instead of fire they were consumed in a wave of hot wind, hot enough to force them to shield their faces.
The giant grabbed the dragon’s front leg as he stood and flipped the beast backward, sending it scrambling to find its feet. The domed cavern rumbled, shaking beneath them.
Sarah ran down the path, reaching the wall. “I don’t see cover!”
“Sarah! Everyone! We have to move closer, we are too open here!” Fredy shouted.
“Look up ahead – the wall juts out a little. Maybe we can hide there,” Andrés said.
The giant spoke again, its voice a deep baritone of unintelligible sounds, then it swung at the dragon with its axe.
The dragon roared, swinging its tail into the giant, knocking it on its bottom before belching out another torrent of fire.
The giant bellowed an angry pained cry as it pushed itself under the water to wait out the flames. When it rose, the back of the giant’s tunic was burnt away. It lunged at the dragon, clipping its side with the axe.
Now it was the dragon who screamed in rage.
The giant ran toward the platform – toward Gabi. She pressed herself to the wall so hard it hurt and slammed her eyes shut. “Please!” she screamed as it ran by.
When the giant reached the platform, it wrapped its arms and legs around the center column and began scaling it.
Andrés watched in stunned amazement. “It’s trying to flee!” As he looked up, he noticed something else. A rope. “Look! Manuel dropped us a rope! That’s it! That’s our way out!”
Gabi forced herself to look.
Sarah looked at Andrés like he had just suggested they climb on the giant’s back and have him carry them out. “What about the giant?!”
Gabi was no longer paying attention to the rope or the giant. The dragon had her full attention now. It spread its wings, then, leaping into the air, it flew fast toward the giant. Even though she could barely see the black-scaled beast when it wasn’t breathing fire, the burning columns gave off enough light she could see its silhouette gliding silently through the darkness. “¡Papá!” she screamed, giving her father’s hand a yank. A second later the dragon collided with the giant.
The column exploded as both beasts tumbled across the chamber into the water beyond the platform. Massive chunks of the stone column flew in every direction. From above, the stone giant that had stood sentinel for unknown centuries dropped, breaking into pieces along with the column. The entire dome shook violently as a scream pierced through the chaos.
Gabi’s head snapped up toward the oculus for the source of the scream. Manuel was in a freefall. She turned away, slamming her eyes closed and covering her ears.
“Manuel!” Sarah screamed.
“We have to move!” Andrés shouted, grabbing Gabi’s and Itzel’s hands. They ran along the wall, Fredy and Sarah on their heels. “We have to try and get to the other room. Maybe there’s another way out!”
“The room is still so far!” Fredy shouted back.
“We have no choice! Fifty meters, Fredy! We can do it! We have to!”
The dragon spoke again in its strange, high-pitched screech. Then it roared.
“Don’t look back, Gabi,” her mother said.
But Gabi did look back. Just for a second, just long enough to see the beast open its mouth and exhale another gush of strange, blue-green fire. She could feel the heat instantly. She had her legs fully under her now, running as hard as she could run.
Behind them, the giant squatted near a large chunk of the stone column as the flames poured over it. When the flames passed, he stood once again, the stone he had used for cover now burning like a giant torch.
Sarah fell, landing hard on her stomach.
Itzel stopped and turned back, grabbing Sarah by the elbow and pulling her to her feet.
Gabi tried to stop too.
“No, Gabi! Run, dammit!” her father shouted.
The flame was too close. “Jump in the water, Sarah!” her mother yelled as she threw herself over the side. Sarah followed. They both disappeared below the water just before it erupted in a superheated boil.
Gabi was six steps ahead of her father when she heard him say, “Keep running, Gabi! You will make it!” She spared a glance back to see Fredy and her father jump over the side.
Gabi didn’t jump. She did what her father said, and she ran. She ran faster than ever, faster than even she thought possible. She was almost there, and as the heat pressed against her she rounded the corner of the smoldering monolith and into the second room.
The flames passed by, and she quickly stepped back around the corner to find the others. Startled, she choked in a rancid breath. Sarah, Fredy, and her parents were still in the water. The giant was in a full-on run right toward them. Gabi’s heart slammed against her chest. She found her voice and began shouting. “The giant is coming! Look out, Papá! Look out, Mamá!” Without thinking, she ran from the safety of the next room and back down the path.
Still shouting, Gabi watched in dismay as the giant stomped over them. It stepped down so close to Fredy that the suction pulled him under. Gabi arrived in time to help her mother pull Sarah from the water back onto the path while her father retrieved Fredy, dragging him onto the path.
“Damn you, girl!” her father scolded. “Why didn’t you stay safe?”
Gabi didn’t try to answer. She had never seen her father so scared.
“Will he be okay?” Itzel asked.
“He’s hurt. Fredy, wake up, compadre, this is no time to be taking a siesta,” her father said, eyeballing the giant, who stood between them and the opening to the next chamber. “We’re only twenty meters from the opening, but now he is blocking our way.”
“If we wait, we may be burned by the next burst of fire from the dragon,” Sarah said.
Gabi spared a glance back toward the way they had come. The chamber was silent, but the dragon was out there somewhere in the darkness.
“Look, the giant is waiting for the dragon to attack.” Andrés pointed past the giant. “We have to go for it!”
Fredy opened his eyes. “My leg. I think it’s broken. I can’t make it. You go.”
“No, Fredy!” Sarah cried out.
“Sí, no way we’re leaving you!” Andrés nodded to Itzel and Sarah. They nodded back, each taking an arm. Andrés grabbed Fredy’s legs. “I’m sorry, compadre, this is going to hurt like hell but no screaming.” He looked up at Gabi. “Stay in front. If the dragon comes you leave all of us and get to the room, find a way out.” With only about twenty meters to the archway, they started pulling.
As soon as Andrés lifted Fredy’s busted leg, he screamed, drawing the attention of the giant. Its massive head tilted toward them as it gave them a sideways glance with one oblong eye.
“¡Mierda!” Andrés said. “Don’t stop! Just go!”
Behind them the dragon stalked forward out of the shadows, screeching in its strange tongue again.
The giant gl
anced away from them, focusing its attention back on the dragon.
The dragon leapt into the air above the giant, flapping its massive wings. Then, angling its body so that its head pointed down, the dragon roared.
Flame rained down at the giant. The giant saw the opening and took it, running underneath the dragon and avoiding the flames.
The fire dispersed out across the water and onto the walkway. Fredy continued to scream in pain as they pulled and ran as fast as they could. But it was not fast enough.
“Go, Gabi!” her father urged. “Run! Don’t look back! Please, no matter what, don’t look! Itzel! Don’t look, just—”
Heat from the dragon fire pressed against Gabi’s back. Behind her she heard a body hit the water with a splash. Oh, please be okay, Papá!
Her mother screamed as she continued to pull Fredy along by the wrist.
Gabi didn’t look back, but she could hear Fredy shouting. “Let go of me!” he demanded. “I’m not going to make it!” Suddenly his voice went into a high-pitched scream of pain. “Now run! Save yourselves! Run as fast—”
35
Click
Wednesday, April 6 – God Stones Day 1
Petersburg, Illinois
Next to Garrett, Breanne screamed, but he couldn’t hear her over his own.
The heat was so intense they had to turn away from the fire and the horror beneath it. Even then it was nearly unbearable. Within seconds the temperature of the entire tomb had risen beyond that of a hot summer day.
For a fleeting moment, the air had been electric with the hope of an impossible love. Now the air was void of hope, and in its place hung the rancid stench of burning skin, hair, and rotting vapors.
Sylanth exhaled the last of their burning breath, inhaled, and turned their heads toward the next closest target.
Pete, looking shocked and heartbroken, was collapsed in a heap nearby. He looked up at the dragon and screamed, “You son of a bitch!”
The Keepers Of The Light (God Stone Book 2) Page 24