The dragons shared unsure looks.
The queen’s eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. “Dökkálfar Syldan is dead?”
Apep nodded. “So you see, you have no reason not to trust what I am telling you.” Apep held his palms out, then clenched them into fists. “However, you also have no reason not to believe I will do whatever it takes to claim my kingdom.”
As all eyes fell to Azazel as she stood silent for a long moment. “And what of our God Stone, dökkálfar? Am I to believe you will return it to me when you are king?”
Apep forced a wide smile to stretch across the sharp features of his face. “Of course. When this is over and I am king, your God Stone shall be returned.”
“We want to go back to Karelia – to our kind, to our home. We want our dragons freed. However, what you ask is impossible – we cannot wage a war on the dökkálfar army in mere months. We would need years to prepare. We have thousands of eggs here. We must incubate them and then grow our young. If we go in only months, our young would not be hatched. We would have to abandon them. Your people will use enslaved dragons against us. With only six of us, your army will lose, and we will die or become enslaved. No, dökkálfar. I think not. We will stay here. There are many more humans here now for us to feed on. No, we will rule here.”
Apep couldn’t contain his smile and beamed ear-to-ear. “Queen Azazel, what if I told you I can offer you both an army of dragons in a few short months and this whole world to feed them with?”
Azazel flexed her long wings wide and then folded them in upon themselves. “Explain yourself!”
“Perhaps it would be better if I showed you.” He stepped toward the slope and the dragons parted. As he drew near he felt the heat from the soil penetrating his boots. Closing his eyes he spread his arms wide and began to chant. Despite the pain in his joints and tingling in his hands, the Sentheye came forth when called and snaked from his fingertips down toward the ground, forcing its shadowy blue-grey tentacles into the earth.
The dragons gathered behind him, watching quietly as the ground began to quake. A sound like that of breaking bone rang out. First one loud crack, then another, then more. The dirt began to move down the slope as dragon hatchlings pushed free of their shells and up through the rocky soil. First two rows of eight, followed by four more rows, then six, then eight, then ten. The sound of the fracturing eggs changed to the sound of screeching young.
Apep stopped chanting when one hundred hatchlings had broken the surface.
Azazel looked to the Sound Eye crown atop Apep’s head. “You can do this with all my young?”
“I can do better,” he said, beginning a new chant. The Sentheye came rushing from him as it had in Mexico, blue-grey fog drifting down the slope. The hatchlings stopped screeching, breathing in the Sentheye, feeding on it. In seconds they had grown to fledglings – then, stretching their wings, they became juveniles.
A juvenile in the fourth row spit fire, flapped its wings, and lifted off the ground.
Apep involuntarily dropped to one knee as exhaustion overtook him. He quickly forced himself to his feet, hoping the distraction of what he had just done was enough to keep the dragons from noticing, as it wouldn’t be wise to show weakness in front of the queen of queens.
Azazel turned to him. “Impressive. Can you hatch them all?”
Apep nodded. “Not all at once but, yes, over the next few weeks I can grow your army.”
Azazel turned to a silver dragon. “Ahi, rally the juveniles and take them to town to feed. After, gather as many humans as they can carry and bring them back here. It’s time we start enslaving our own humans.”
Ahi nodded. “Yes, my queen.” He flapped his wings as he lifted from the ground.
Azazel turned to Apep. “Why did we not do this from the start?”
“You know why, Azazel. The nephilbock would not allow me to join the God Stones until it was time to open the portal,” Apep said, shielding his eyes from the dust stirred by Ahi.
“But they have changed their mind now?”
“They have seen the wisdom of my decision.”
“And you can build them an army too? They don’t have eggs. Can you simply turn humans into slave monsters for your army?”
No, only you can turn humans into obedient slave monsters, Apep thought, knowing he couldn’t command creatures by simply altering them. But Azazel didn’t need to know that. “I don’t need to. They have an army in the tens of thousands and they are already at my command.”
“Interesting. And where is this army hiding?”
“Azazel, that is of no matter to you. You serve me. They serve me. If you want to war with the nephilbock, you will wait until after I have my kingdom. Now, do you want me to grow you an army and lead your dragons into war and out of slavery, or will you settle for this tiny world while your dragons back on Karelia stay enslaved to me for your failure to obey?”
Azazel’s hateful eyes bore through him. “I will join you in this campaign, young king, but I serve no one less than the god Typhon herself!”
“Whatever,” Apep said, waving a hand. “I need one more thing.”
“What do you want, dökkálfar?”
“Your general, Sylanth, wasn’t killed by the nephilbock it was bound to but by a young human boy. I believe I killed him, in turn, but I need you to send a dragon to be sure.”
Azazel lowered her head down to meet Apep’s eyes. “You expect me to believe a human child killed my general? Even if that were possible, you were there, and you did nothing?!”
“Careful, queen,” Apep said, taking a step forward. “I was there and I did plenty, but I was dealing with many other humans and an angry nephilbock. Sylanth wasn’t exactly in a good mood when they woke either. The boy who killed Sylanth was the descendant of the mage who helped my brother imprison you. His name was Turek. Do you know that name?”
“Yes. He was the mage of old, the one we battled.”
“Yes, but had you heard that name before coming to this planet?” Apep asked.
Azazel hesitated, then said, “No. Not before this planet.”
“You hesitated. Are you sure, Azazel? You never heard the name before coming here?”
“That’s what I said!” Azazel looked away into the distance and her next words came softer than Apep had ever heard her speak. “Sylanth was a rare two-headed dragon. In their own way they were like a queen, very rare. Only one born in five thousand.” She turned back to Apep, her voice now sharp as a steel blade. “Where is this boy who killed my dragon general?”
“I killed him,” Apep said. “But there was a lot of commotion and I didn’t see his body in death. I need to be sure.”
“What do you require?” Azazel asked coldly.
“I need you to send a dragon to make sure. I want you to torture every human in the town if you have to and when you finish, I want it burned to ash. If the boy is found alive, I want him killed and laid at my feet so I can see for myself. After, he is yours to consume.”
“And if he is already dead?”
“If you find the body, bring it to me. I want to see it. Either way, feast on the town. Leave no one left alive. For good measure burn every town around that one while you are at it.”
“Repair Goch’s wing and I will send him and six juveniles. We will find this boy if he lives, and we will kill, eat, and burn everything else.”
Apep frowned at the red dragon and his shriveled wing devoid of all scales, his flesh charred to the bone.
“Kings must be good for more than destruction,” Azazel said.
Apep rubbed his fingers together and called upon the Sentheye to repair the wing, much like he had used it to repair himself over the last few days of battle. Everything was coming together better than he could have hoped. He would stay here, let the dragons deal with Petersburg. He had a dragon army to grow. In the meantime, Ogliosh would prepare the pyramid and his army would work their way up from the center of the earth.
With the nephi
lbock at his command, Queen Azazel falling in line, and his earthly enemies defeated, there was nothing to prevent him from opening the portal and going home to claim his birthright and take his place on the throne of Osonian.
I’ll be home soon, father. I’ll be home soon.
57
Follow Your Heart
Saturday, April 16 – God Stones Day 10
Petersburg, Illinois
Garrett entered the “war room” as his brother called it, to find a rotund older man sitting next to a younger guy who he recognized instantly to be an older, more muscular version of Paul. Both men sat on the far side of the really long table in the otherwise stark room. They looked like they had belly-crawled through hell to get here. Neither had seen a razor in some time, and their clothes were tattered, as if they had been living on the street for months.
Elaine was there, sipping a cup of tea and chatting with the men. She turned to the door as he entered the room. “Garrett, do you know who these men are?” she asked, motioning to them.
Garrett nodded, wide eyed. “You must be Dr. Moore, Bre’s dad! And that means you must be her other brother, Ed!”
From behind Garrett, Paul entered the room.
The two men lurched upward as chairs toppled.
“Paul! Jesus Christ, boy! You’re alive!” the older man shouted, throwing his arms around Paul.
The younger man threw his own giant arms around both of them. “Bre said you were dead,” he said, his eyes glistening and threatening to spill over.
“What? Breanne! You’ve talked to her? Is she with you?!” Garrett asked, searching the men’s faces.
Dr. Moore shook his head, trying to catch his breath. “Slow down, everyone, just slow down.” He wiped his eyes. “So you’re Garrett. The Garrett. You don’t have to call me doctor or mister, you just call me plain old Charles.” He turned back to Paul, both hands on his son’s shoulders. He squeezed them. “I… I never thought I would see you again, son.”
“I’m okay, Pops,” Paul said.
Charles looked back to Garrett. “And this is my oldest son, Ed.”
Garrett looked at Ed and nodded, but there was something about the way Ed looked at Garrett that made him feel like he didn’t like him… not at all.
“Who are your friends?” Charles asked.
“This is Lenny and David. They know Bre too,” Garrett said sheepishly. “Did you say you talked to Bre?”
Ed cut in. “I want you to tell me what happened that night, Garrett. I want you to tell me in your own words what happened.” He pointed accusingly across the table. “I want to know how you let Bre get taken by that psycho if you’re supposed to be some kind of chosen one!? That’s what I want to know!”
Paul spoke up. “Now hold on, Ed, you weren’t there. Garrett went back for her, he tried—”
“And what about you, Paul? Bre thinks you’re dead. How could you leave without her?” Ed asked.
“Like I said, you weren’t there. Once Apep magicked himself out, there wasn’t really shit we could do but try not to die and live long enough to find Bre after!” Paul said.
Garrett looked from Paul to Ed, focusing on a vein bulging from the side of his neck like a swollen garden hose about to burst.
“Ed. Stop. We talked about this,” Charles said.
“Stop?! How can you—”
“Who opened the ark, Ed?” Charles asked. “When Bre begged me not to, who opened it!? If you want to blame someone for all this, you blame me, dammit!”
Garrett blinked back tears as Breanne’s father’s eyes filled and dumped wet trails down his face.
“I’m sorry!” Garrett shouted. “I never wanted any of this. I tried to get to her. I tried to get her to run to me, but she wouldn’t or couldn’t.” He shook his head back and forth in frustration and looked to Paul. “I… I begged Paul not to go back, but he wouldn’t listen to me and if he had listened, we would all be dead too! I couldn’t save our friend Janis when the dragon burned her alive, I couldn’t save Mr. B, I couldn’t save my dad! I couldn’t save anyone! Now he’s got Bre and I don’t know where he is! I don’t know what I am supposed to do!” Garrett slammed his fist down on the table as the tears came and flowed openly. He forced himself to look up and meet Ed’s eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for all of it.”
Elaine made her way around the table to comfort him. Garrett waved her off.
“I believe you did everything you could do,” Charles choked out.
Ed’s face fell and he sat back in his chair.
Garrett looked up and met the man’s eyes. “When you saw Paul, you said Bre said he was dead. What did you mean?”
“I know where my daughter is,” Charles said, looking at Garrett.
Garrett lifted his head and traded glances with Lenny. “What? Where? Is she alright? Does Apep still have her? Is she far? Is she hurt? Is she—”
“Alright, slow down, Garrett,” Charles said. “Let me start from the beginning, and I will tell you everything. For me this starts in a hospital bed in Nova Scotia the night Apep connected the stones and the whole world went dark. For some reason I don’t understand, when those stones connected, I woke up. Albeit with a horrible headache, a fuzzy memory, and a quickly fading dream, but I was back. We didn’t know what to do next. Ed’s compound fracture healed within twenty-four hours of being broken. Some effect of the God Stones.” He gave Ed a sideways glance. “So, my only thought was getting out and finding Bre and Paul. Ed remembered hearing them mention the land of Lincoln, Petersburg, and a kid named Garrett, and so we got out of there and started for Illinois.”
“But how did you get here so quickly on foot?” James asked.
“We weren’t on foot so to speak. Look, I would rather not get into it, but let’s just say the ability to heal isn’t the only thing that Ed here ended up acquiring from the God Stones.”
“I can sort of fly,” Ed said.
“You can fly, Ed?” Paul asked.
“Wait, what does that mean, ‘sort of fly’?” David asked, making no effort to hide his excitement.
“It means not very long, not very high, and not very good,” Charles said.
“I got us here, didn’t I?” Ed said defensively. “Besides if it wasn’t for me, we would never had made it past the dragons.”
“Dragons?!” James said.
“Dammit, you’re getting ahead, Ed. Tell it right or let me tell it,” Charles said.
Ed motioned for his dad to continue, and everyone else leaned forward.
“I hadn’t been on a bike in years, but you know what they say, it’s like riding a bike. When we were on the long stretches of clear road, Ed was able to fly a foot or two off the ground with a rope tied from him to the bike and we hit some incredibly dangerous speeds. We hit the dirt a few times too, trying to figure it out but, luckily, we were able to get here in one piece and in pretty decent time. We could have been here sooner, but we had to use the river to sneak past the dragons. If it wasn’t for Ed’s ability, I’m sure I would have drowned.”
“What are you talking about dragons? We haven’t seen any dragons,” James said.
“Are you people not sending scouts out?” Ed asked.
“Of course but… Well, to be honest, we haven’t had any return in the last several days. I expected this, what with the trees moving and their orders to go further out, but what are you saying?” James asked.
“I’m saying we didn’t see any dragons until we got to within fifty miles, then we saw our first and we tried to go around, then we saw our second, so we went further afield. Then we saw our third, and that’s when we realized they are surrounding this town. They are closing in and burning surrounding towns. You are being surrounded and cut off from everything. It’s only a matter of days before they reach this place.”
Paul and James shared a look.
“Haven’t you guys seen the smoke in the far-off distance?” Charles asked.
“The world has gone crazy without power, so we fig
ured riots in Springfield could be the cause of the smoke. I sent a two-man team to check it out,” James said.
“Well, your two-man team is probably dragon food,” Charles said.
“And that’s if the trees don’t kill them first,” Ed said.
James’s eyes widened. “The trees? We’ve seen them moving, but they are attacking?”
“Have you been down in this hole too long or what?” Ed asked.
“Ed, knock it off. These folks have actually created a pretty defendable and sustainable bunker down here,” Paul said.
“The trees haven’t attacked, at least not in mass, not yet, but they are mobilizing and if I were a tree come to life, I don’t think I would care too much for humans,” Charles said.
Uneasy looks traveled around the table.
“Trees are alive and mobilizing?!” David shook his head.
Garrett absently listened to the information about the dragons and the trees. Everyone was talking all at once, asking questions, but his mind was somewhere else. All he wanted to know about was Bre. “Mr. Moore?”
Everyone fell silent.
“Just Charles,” he said.
“Where is Bre and how do you know where she is?” he asked.
Charles nodded sagely. “There is this girl, Gabi. She was exposed to the God Stones after Apep left Petersburg. She has the ability to take an object that two people have possessed, or I don’t know maybe even just touched, and somehow connect them.” Charles held up his hands and interlocked his fingers. He launched into the whole story, telling Garrett and the others all about Gabi, Ogliosh, Apep, Azazel, Sarah, and Bre. When he was finished, he sat back and said, “I’ve talked to my daughter every day for the last seven nights. Sarah is getting worse. She is bedridden and has come down with a fever. She needs antibiotics and pain medicine, but Bre tells me they have nothing there and the area is overrun with giant bugs, snakes, monkeys – you name it.”
“But how is that possible?” Lenny asked.
The Keepers Of The Light (God Stone Book 2) Page 40