Garrett suddenly felt an uncomfortableness akin to one of those dreams where you find you’re standing alone in the middle of your school gymnasium, the bleachers are packed with the entire school, and everyone is laughing and pointing. You wonder what the hell is so funny, what they are all looking at. Following the pointing fingers, you look down to find you’re naked from the waist down, and the cause of everyone’s laughter is your bait and tackle dangling in full view for the entire world, or at least the entire school, to see. Then suddenly you wake up, flushed. But this wasn’t a dream, and Garrett wasn’t waking up.
The people before him were looking at him strangely. He couldn’t quite place the meaning in their eyes. It wasn’t fear or pity, not like you look at someone who just found out they were dying of cancer or had been in a horrible accident. There was no laughter either, but just to be safe he looked down and, yes, he still had his pants on. No, these people looked at him as if he were… were what? A ghost? He leaned over and whispered into Lenny’s ear. “Dude, what the f is going on?”
James pushed forward through the crowd, an uncharacteristically bright smile on his face. “I never doubted you, little brother.”
“What’s going on, James?” Garrett asked.
James continued to smile, nodding. “I never doubted you! And I know father never did either.”
“James? What is this?” Garrett asked quietly. His brother’s smile was strange, full of pride. Then, like the man in the hall, James – the big brother who had banished Garrett from his room, twisted his arm to the point of nearly breaking it on numerous occasions, and squeezed his shoulder muscle until he screamed uncle – took a knee and bowed his head.
Following his cue, everyone in the crowd dropped to their knees and bowed, pressing their heads to the cold concrete floor.
Garrett neither liked nor understood what was happening. Had he been named king of the basement while he was sleeping and no one told him?
Lenny smiled a serious smile and spoke into Garrett’s ear. “This is what you had to see to believe. The Keepers of the Light weren’t just hiding the bloodline of Turek the ancient wizard or the descendant of an old Templar knight. They were protecting something far more important. They were protecting the bloodline of god, Garrett. And not just the bloodline, but the chosen one. The descendant of the bloodline is to fulfill a prophecy so incredible it’s unthinkable.”
Garrett looked at him blankly, but his mind was reeling inside. The conversation he overheard in the temple with Coach and Apep, and the dream where he asked Turek if he was god. Turek said he created humankind, but there were seven creators and the mother was god. What did that mean?
In typical David fashion, he put it in layman’s terms. “You’re the descendant of a freaking god, dude! You’re like Hercules or some shit!”
James lifted his head and shot David a cutting look.
He was whispering excitedly, but too loudly. “I’m sorry, but c’mon! That’s what we’re saying! That’s what he is, man! There’s no sense sugarcoating it.”
A god? The god of humans? His mind continued spinning in search of some kind of reason. He supposed all sorts of people believed in all sorts of gods. And, to be honest, they were certainly dealing with some epic weirdness. Space aliens, dragons, and giants, but god… we’re talking creation. Garrett closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. His knees felt suddenly weak, and the wonderful food he had eaten moments earlier threatened to come back up.
“Garrett?” Lenny reached out and grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
He opened his eyes. “Jesus, can you please make them stand back up? They don’t need to bow like that.” He hated this. It felt… wrong. He had only gotten lucky – sure, very lucky, but still. For crap’s sake, he had almost died a dozen times. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew one thing: whatever this Turek guy was – Garrett was no god.
James stood. “Garrett. You are the descendant of the god of humans. They are bowing to you in the kowtow, showing you the respect and love that’s due to a god.”
Garrett winced and frowned. “Please stop saying that.”
From the crowd Elaine rose and walked toward them. Her sandy-brown hair was braided into a long plait that lay over her shoulder. Her long white dress trailed behind her as she stepped carefully through the narrow spaces between the kneeling, bowing people.
Garrett saw his mother and ran to her. They embraced. He squeezed her, hugging her as tight as he could. He never wanted to let go – the embrace felt like the safest place in the world.
Elaine pushed him back to an arm’s length and looked him in the eyes. “Tell them to rise.”
Garrett shook his head. “What?”
She spread her arms over the crowd. “Tell them to rise.”
Garrett turned to the crowd, hesitantly clearing his throat. “Everyone,” he started, “you can stop doing that now.”
The crowd of people sat fidgeting, unsure, as they looked from Garrett to James.
“Command them, Garrett, and they will obey,” James said.
He didn’t want to command anyone, and he certainly didn’t want people obeying him. “Please, everyone, stand up. Thank you, but you don’t have to do that – ever.”
Elaine cupped his face in her hands. “You have made me so proud. You have defeated a giant, slain a dragon, and died in an ancient river only to be reborn of dragon blood and fire. You’ve done everything just as foretold.” She grabbed his hands and held them up for everyone to see.
Garrett looked out over the crowd from the makeshift platform. The surreal moment moved slowly, too slowly… too strangely. The crowd repeated after her in an even chant, “You have been reborn of dragon blood and fire!” They bowed again, placing their heads back down onto the floor.
“Stop!” Garrett said. He wanted nothing more than to hide underneath something.
“Garrett? Please be respectful to your followers,” his mother said.
He pulled a face and looked to Lenny with pleading eyes. “Get me out of here.”
Lenny nodded. “Where to?”
“Coach. Where is he?”
His mother placed a hand on his arm. “Wait, Garrett. Your people—”
Garrett didn’t wait. He turned and followed Lenny and David toward the back of the stage.
As they spilled back through the heavy door and into the corridor, James was right on their heels. “Syldan? We have him locked up under around-the-clock guard in another wing.”
Garrett spun on his brother. “Locked up! Why?”
James drew in a deep breath. “We knew from Turek’s writings that Apep wasn’t from this world, but the fact that he was elvish – well, that was enlightening. Then we learn Apep apparently had an older brother named Syldan. This wasn’t in any of Turek’s writings. He has been here all along, right under our noses, watching us.” James clenched his hand into a fist. “Garrett, we aren’t sure of his intentions or whether he is evil but—”
“Coach isn’t evil, James!” Garrett interrupted. “I order him released immediately.” As much as he rejected the thought, he was supposed to be some relation to god now, right? So then James had to obey. Jesus Christ, the thought felt blasphemous. Nevertheless, whether he believed it or not, his brother did. “You have to obey me, right?”
Usually speaking to James this way might get him twisted into a pretzel, but he wasn’t that Garrett anymore and James… James wasn’t that same older brother.
James stared at him for a long three-count. “I am the last of Turek’s original disciples, Garrett. I am the only one left who lived when he lived. I remember his death like it was yesterday – the day my own flesh burned. I have lost my father, John, and everyone else who lived then – everyone who knew Turek on this earth. They are all dead.” James thrust a finger into Garrett’s chest. “You ask what I have to do? What I have to do is protect the Light, and its Keepers. Even when that means protecting a foolish boy from himself.”
Garrett felt his ears getting hot. “James, you have—”
James held up a hand and sighed. “Listen, it isn’t like he can go anywhere. He can’t even walk.”
“Then why is he imprisoned?’
“He is locked away for his own protection as much as for ours. He’s Apep’s brother, Garrett, and although you believe he’s on our side, it may be very difficult for others to believe his motives are pure. Until we decide what to do with him, I just want to ensure everyone is safe, including him. Besides, it may not be much of a decision. He seems to be dying. I’m actually surprised he lasted this long.”
Garrett rubbed his face. “He saved us back in that temple. We would all be dead if it wasn’t for him.”
“I’m sorry, Garrett, but I don’t believe that either. His interference did nothing to change the prophecy.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t there, were you? Oh, that’s right, you were busy sending me off to die!” The comment was intended to cut, but James didn’t blink.
“No, I wasn’t, and he shouldn’t have been either. If he wasn’t a Keeper and he wasn’t in alliance with his brother, then how did he know so damn much?”
“You didn’t tell him, Lenny? You didn’t tell him he knew Turek? That after the giants were defeated, he helped capture the elder dragons and imprison them? We’re talking thousands of years back, before Apep was locked away.”
“I told him,” Lenny said matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, and all we have is Apep’s brother’s story to go on!”
“Well, that’s good enough for me, James!”
“Well, it isn’t for me!”
The two locked eyes as the tension thickened like cold honey, but there was no sweetness to it.
“Just take me to him, James. Take me or stand aside!” Garrett ordered, holding James’s stare, no longer the little brother who screamed uncle. Not blinking, Garrett could feel as much as see in his peripheral vision that David and Lenny exchanged looks of concern. For a breath, Garrett thought James might actually lunge at him. But instead he tipped his head to the side and spoke.
“Alright, Garrett.” James nodded, the angry red color draining from his face. The tight, serious line of his lips faltered as the corners turned ever so slowly upward – perhaps a twinge of old big brother still stirred inside him. “I will take you to him, and I will be in the room with you. This is nonnegotiable. Follow me.” He bowed at the waist.
Garrett let out a breath as they fell in behind James, walking in silence. They made their way through a maze of corridors; it was like leaving the good part of town and entering the slums. The silence was broken only by the sounds of dripping water and their feet scuffing across the rough surface as the corridor became tighter, damper, and dimmer. They hit a section of tunnel that was holding a couple inches of water, which they were forced to pass through, soaking their feet. It was becoming even more obvious to Garrett that the entire underground— underground what? Bunker? Compound? He wasn’t sure what to call it, but it was massive.
After a few minutes of walking, Lenny cleared his throat. “James, why don’t you explain to Garrett what this place is.”
James nodded sagely. “This underground complex was built long before you were born as a place for the Keepers of the Light and the Light itself” – he motioned back at Garrett with a hooked thumb – “to take refuge when end days came and to prepare for what comes next. We already know from the prophecy the world will go crazy in the coming weeks. Now you only need to flip a light switch to see the evidence. There’s no electricity since the God Stones were united, and it is likely there won’t be. Imagine a massive electromagnetic pulse going off, but instead of taking out electricity in an area it knocks out the entire world – and, worse, it continues to go off. My men…” He paused. “Rather your men, Garrett. Anyway, they report compasses don’t work either – they just spin. As long as the God Stones are loose in the world, the magnetic fields are going to be all jacked up.”
My men, Garrett thought uncomfortably.
James ducked under a low pipe. “Watch your heads,” he said, pointing up. “Over the past ten days our scouts have ventured as far southwest as Springfield and as far north as Havana. In the next day or two I expect scouts to be returning from Peoria and Lincoln, but I expect more of the same.”
“What are they saying?” Garrett asked.
“Disturbing news. Folks in Springfield are under house arrest. The National Guard has been deployed, but without electricity all communication has failed. There is no transportation, hence no commerce. The only food in the city is what they had when the power went out. So it’s no wonder riots have begun. We can assume St. Louis and Chicago are in a dire state, as is the rest of the country and probably the world. It’s only a matter of days before people start killing one another, if they haven’t already. But as bad as this sounds, it’s only the beginning. It’s going to get really nasty when the world begins to burn. Once that starts, people fighting one another will be the least of our concerns.”
Garrett stopped at the mention of the world burning. Although James had not actually said it, Garrett knew what would be coming – what would be burning the world.
“What is it?” James asked, glancing back over his shoulder.
“You’re talking about dragons? I’ve seen the fire in my dreams. I’ve heard their roars. I’ve heard people screaming as they burn, James. I’ve heard it.”
James turned to him and nodded. “Yeah, the dragons will rise again. That was written too.”
“But aren’t there only seven?” David asked. “How can seven dragons burn the world?”
“Six now, after the one Garrett killed,” Lenny reminded them.
“We don’t know, David, but honestly, who knows what they are capable of? I mean, how many dragons have you seen?” James said.
“One more than you, and I can tell you they scare the hell out of me,” David retorted.
“Bro, everything scares the hell out of you,” Lenny said. “But this one time, I’m with you. They scare the hell out of me too.”
“There is something else happening,” James said hesitantly. He stopped and turned to face Garrett. “It’s the trees.”
“The trees?” Garrett asked.
James nodded. “We think they’re moving.”
48
A Friend and Ally
Saturday, April 9 –
God Stones Day 4, six days before Garrett awakes
Rural Chiapas State, Mexico
Gabi woke to the sound of King Ogliosh speaking in her mind. She blinked her eyes, stretched, and opened the door to the Jeep. She climbed out onto the ledge and stretched again. Sleeping in the Jeep was horribly uncomfortable, but it was better than the stone floor and warmer too. She had told Ogliosh she was hungry, and he’d asked where he could get her food, to which she replied there were rations and water in the Jeep. When Ogliosh disappeared down the mountain she hadn’t expected him to bring the whole Jeep back, but a few moments later he reappeared, dragging the Jeep behind him like a child dragging its favorite doll by the arm.
Gabi looked out across the jungle, but the view was just the same. Two days had passed, and no one had come for her. Her parents were dead. Manuel, María, and Fredy were dead. Where was Sarah? Was Sarah lost in the jungle? What if she got lost running for help?
“I have removed the last of the stones,” King Ogliosh said now. “The inner door is open. Come, I will show you.”
Gabi hastily pulled on her boots and followed King Ogliosh down the corridor. The mountain, she now knew for sure, was no mountain at all but a hidden pyramid – larger than any known pyramid on earth. King Ogliosh had not only told her what it was, he had told her what it was for. He’d said he had come to earth on a mission with six of his people some twelve thousand years ago to teach humans about agriculture, society, and language. The king told amazing stories explaining the pyramids and how they were assembled. He spoke of five cities, the first cities of the wor
ld, and explained it was he and his six who saved humanity from a great flood. It was mind-blowing. Even at her age she understood what this meant to humankind. Now humanity would know their true history.
But the king didn’t stop there – he told her of his own world and how his race of people ruled through peace and sharing, how all species worked together to ensure a peaceful society. He explained it was only dragons who caused problems. King Ogliosh told of how the dragons followed him to earth and tried to kill him, using magic against him and finally casting him into a deep sleep to be guarded for all eternity by an evil dragon called Azazel. This was her dragon – the dragon who killed her parents.
He promised her before he left this world he would help her kill Azazel. He wouldn’t leave the dragons to wreak hell on earth. After all, he wanted revenge for having been put to sleep and imprisoned for thousands of years. The other giants would be here soon – how many he didn’t say, only that he could feel them coming. Soon the giants would take their vengeance on the dragons, open the gate, and go back home.
Gabi could tell King Ogliosh was sad and in pain. He had been away from his home planet, and many of his friends and family had been killed by the dragons. Her pain was new and fresh, but it was so deep and real and wrong. She felt a bond in their pain. He would help her realize justice for her parents. In return she answered all his questions without hesitation, telling him anything he wanted to know. After all, her parents’ homeschooling had been thorough, and she was able to answer his questions, which were mostly about geography and the location of pyramids. He seemed to know about the pyramids in Mesoamerica and Egypt, but she’d explained that there were supposedly pyramids in Bosnia, China, and even Antarctica, retrieving a map from the Jeep’s glove compartment and showing him the locations. He was also interested in technology and weaponry; she told him about everything from the invention of gunpowder to nuclear weapons, as well as electricity, engines, and space flight.
The Keepers Of The Light (God Stone Book 2) Page 33