“We will make a plan before we get there,” she said. “I will scout it out first and then we will take him out.”
“And then what?” Luke said.
She stopped chewing and looked at Luke for a long spell before finishing the jerky, but she didn’t answer.
“When he is all good and dead, then what happens?”
“What do you mean, Luke?”
“Your mission is complete, right? I mean, that’s what you came here for, right?”
She said nothing, just stared off into the distance.
Luke stood. “Well, my mission was to find Grace, and now I have. I’m taking her back through the portal.”
She got to her feet. “Luke, I think that will land you in Nazi Germany.”
“You don’t know where it goes.”
“If Shevay does, indeed, have control over the portal, he has it set for Karl to find his grandson in World War II Germany.”
“That is not what you believed before. You told me Shevay believed the portals open at different locations, but at the same time period in our ancient world. To him that is now. And if that is what he thinks, he is wrong.”
“I thought that, but now I’m not so sure.” Moon stroked hair from Luke’s face.
“We know it was open to our time,” Luke said. “Grace came through it and days later you and I came through it, so I believe we will go back to that time.”
“But look what happened to Turner.”
“Turner didn’t go through one of the portals. He jumped in the hole the bell made.”
Moon began to speak, but just sighed.
Luke believed he knew exactly what she was thinking. It was all so complicated and the bottom line was—this world was more of a mystery than when he first arrived.
Grace walked up. “Luke, this place is so pretty.”
Luke fumbled his attention to her and smiled. “Grace, I was just thinking the same thing. We will remember it when we get back to Arkansas.”
Grace looked to Luke and then to Moon. “Is that even possible?”
Moon managed a slight smile, picked up her bag, and went to where Adam was sitting.
Grace turned back to Luke. “I don’t understand.”
“Honey, if we can, we are going back through the portal that brought us here.”
“We will have to fight our way to it, won’t we?” she said. “Is there any alternative?”
“Stay in this world.”
Adam and Moon came up. “Let’s move,” Adam said as he started across the stream.
Moon followed Adam, but turned when she crossed the stream. “Grace, anything is possible.” She turned back and fell in behind Adam.
Grace watched Adam and Moon go for a time before turning back to Luke. “Luke, I will do whatever you say. I trust you. I want to go home.”
That heavy weight settled on his soul again. Hadn’t he come to rescue her after all? Well, dammit, that’s what he was going to do.
They moved down the dark trail like alert deer as the evening settled over the wild land. Adam was up ahead somewhere and out of sight. There was no way the group would be ambushed with him running point. Moon had her nine pulled and was in full commando mode. If she had to shoot, the surprise was over and the game would be up as they ran for their lives. Luke squeezed the bow in his hand as he brought up the rear. He expected a Scrain behind every bush and in every tree.
As they made their way down the trail, Moon pointed to bare feet sticking from the bushes. Adam had twisted the neck on one of the Scrain and had thrown him off the trail. Luke remembered when he had first met Adam. Luke had figured him to be a simple, big and dumb native—wrong.
Moon put her hand up and stopped the little group. She turned and pointed forward. There were several columns of smoke rising in the distance. Moon mouthed softly, “The village.”
Luke’s heart raced. This was it. For the last little while, he had been praying to God for strength and guidance. He needed all of his wilderness training brought to the ready. He prayed that the Almighty would keep his “buck fever” at bay. Luke would now need all his faculties brought to the top.
Luke caught movement behind him. He whirled and drew the bow at the same motion. But his inner brakes locked—it was Adam.
“If I had been a Scrain, you would have killed me for sure,” Adam said.
Luke lowered the bow and took a deep, cleansing breath.
Moon came back to them. She said nothing, only waited for Adam to report.
“Many are out on the hunt and are to return tonight,” Adam said. “They are building fires in preparation for the cleaning of the kill and a great feast.”
“What about Karl?” Moon said.
“He is wandering around the village freely.”
“Why?” Moon shook her head. “I don’t understand. They kill everything. Why not him?”
“He’s not alone.”
“What do you mean, Adam? Come on out with it.”
“The feathered Raceseyers are here.”
Moon just stood there and said nothing.
“Why are they with him?” Luke said.
“Do you think Karl is taking them through the portal with him?” Grace said.
“Crap! I remember now,” Luke said. “The Raceseyers were here when we came through the portal. I knew I had seen them somewhere, but I just couldn’t remember.” He looked to Grace and Moon. “Didn’t y’all see them?”
“I was so scared.” Grace shook her head.
Moon said, “No. There was too much going on when I went through the portal. My attention was on escaping. But it all makes sense now. They are the ones who open it. They use those horns for the harmonics, just like when they lift the heavy stones.” Moon dropped to her butt. “The Nephilim control this portal and any other portal that may be in this world; that’s how Shevay knew we were here.”
“Shevay said he left this portal for the Florians to play with, so they would not destroy it,” Luke said.
Moon picked up a stone and threw it into the darkness. “Oh, they leave it for them to play with alright. They come and open it like you would keep a piece of machinery working so it doesn’t seize up. They levitate that giant rock for the portal to even work. These simple Florians come to it like animals come at feeding time. The giants let them have whatever sucks in to keep them appeased.”
“But why do the giants want to keep it working?” Grace said as she dropped down next to Moon. “If they don’t use it themselves, why do they even bother with it?”
“I thought Shevay understood we needed to stop Karl,” Luke said. “He gave us weapons and told us to be swift to catch up to Karl. I don’t understand. Is this a game for him?”
“I don’t know,” Moon said. “Something isn’t right here. He made sure Karl made it here, and he made sure we arrived here too.”
Adam reached down and hauled Moon to her feet. “My Kayeeya, we must leave here now.”
Moon pulled from his grip. “What are you talking about?”
Adam turned to Luke. “Luke, you stay here and I will return for you, but I must get Kayeeya away from here and I must be swift.”
“Adam, I have to stop Karl,” Moon said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sha-She, they are waiting for us,” Adam said. “This is a trap.”
Moon stood just looking at Adam. It was clear to Luke she didn’t understand, but now he did. “Go with him, Moon.”
“I’m not going—” Moon started. Adam hit her with his big fist and caught her before she collapsed. He threw her over his shoulder.
“Why did you do that?” Grace said.
Adam ignored her. “Luke, if they open the portal, you two go for it. You will probably be killed anyway, so it is your only chance. I have to get my Kayeeya back to safety.” He squeezed Luke’s shoulder. “You are a brave warrior.” He looked down at Grace. “You both are. I am sorry to leave you alone but I need no tail.”
“Go,” Luke said. Adam whirled a
nd sprinted down the trail and out of sight.
“Luke, what’s going on here?” Grace said.
“The Nephilim open the portal and let the Florians have what comes in to appease them, a sacrifice to keep them under control so they don’t bother the portal. If the portal didn’t give up something every now and then, they would probably destroy it. This time the portal will not be letting anything in, only out. Something will have to be given to the savages for sacrifice.”
Grace looked down at the ground. “And we are the something.”
Luke hugged her. “That’s right, Honey. Shevay had it planned well. He believes Karl will bring his son back, so he planned to sacrifice us.”
Grace collected herself and stood straight. “But we are going to screw up his plans.”
Luke smiled and tapped her on the face with a mock punch. “We dang sure are and we are going through that portal.” Luke picked up his bow and bag. “Now, let us go see how we’re going to do it.” Grace followed him as they sneaked toward the portal.
Shadows danced like distorted demons as the Florians lit bonfires and torches around the plaza. The purple sky loomed ominous over the village as more and more people gathered at the carnival-like activity, at least a hundred already, their white hair changing from orange, yellow, and red with the reflections of the fires. A massive wooden cross loomed high in the center of the plaza as if waiting for Jesus himself to be brought forward. Luke wondered if they would actually crucify someone. Clubs, stones, and spears were piled neatly around it. Luke was reminded of the short story The Lottery. He now had a good understanding of how this was supposed to be played out if they were caught. At least Moon was safe with Adam. He hoped the punch from Adam wasn’t too severe. He smiled to himself. She had it coming for hitting him with the pistol butt.
Luke had found skins to cover their clothes. Grace only needed to cover her hair—she already looked like a cave girl. Earlier they had hidden under a fallen tree close to the fire, waiting like lions to pounce when the opportunity presented itself. Luke didn’t know what that opportunity would look like. As more people gathered, he was beginning to feel more like a deer than a lion, but he believed he was ready. If they opened that portal, he was going to cover for Grace; and then he was going to follow her into that wormhole and hope and pray they landed back in Arkansas at the exact, right time.
Grace squeezed Luke’s arm and whispered, “I’m more scared than I have ever been, but I’m ready.”
Luke turned to her, smiled, and winked. She was such a beauty. She was strong. So was Moon, but he had to keep his mind on this situation now and not her. He wanted to escape this place but he didn’t want to leave Moon. The forces were almost the same.
The plan for now was simple: Luke didn’t have one—not really. But he was shooting for two objectives. The most important was to stop Karl from going through the portal, and that more than likely meant killing him. Luke had never killed anyone before coming to this world, but he had only killed here in self-defense. Killing Karl would be different—it would have been planned in advance. That was a different bear altogether. The second objective was to escape through that portal. An arrow could take care of Karl, but he didn’t have any idea how he was going to get them through the wormhole.
Luke watched Karl pace all over the plaza. It was easy to tell he was not a patient man. More than once he addressed the orange-feathered guys and pointed to the side of the hill where the portal had spit Luke from Arkansas. No doubt he wanted them to go ahead and get the show on the road, but they paid him little attention. These men were dedicated to Shevay, and they would follow his wishes only.
Once when Karl came within twenty yards of Luke’s hiding blind Luke thought about putting an arrow in his brain, but suppressed the thought. If he did that, there would be no reason for them to open the portal. There would be nothing to distract all the Florians, and they would be on them like flies on a hot t—
“Luke, look!” Grace said.
He looked where Grace was looking. One of the Raceseyers was placing stones on a pedestal about forty yards in front of the mountainside. Luke raised his binoculars. All at once sparks and electrical charges crackled over the stones. “What the hell?”
Grace reached for the binoculars. “What are they?”
They were the same type stones Moon had collected in that valley, the same ones she used to pull lighting from the pyramids.
“I think that may be the key that opens the portal to get out of here.” Luke turned to Grace. “The Raceseyers had those rocks when they raised those giant stones. Moon used them to direct the electricity at the pyramid.”
The drumming started. Luke found the drummers, four of them beating on skin-covered logs.
“It’s the same sound I heard when I was brought here,” Grace said. “I think it’s beginning.”
Luke took the binoculars and crammed them into his bag. “Let’s be ready. We don’t know how this is going to go down.” Luke dropped his bag and the little mammoth carving fell out.
“What is this?” Grace said.
“Orion asked me to give this to his daughter if I returned to our world. I guessed I would give it to one of his descendants.”
Grace picked it up from the ground. All at once a red “X” appeared on its side and began glowing. “Look, Luke!”
Luke took it. The “X” glowed and then went dim. A memory flashed in Luke’s brain. Orion had said: “Give this to my daughter. If not her, maybe a grandchild—some descendant. Tell them it is the key.”
“What is that thing, Luke?”
“Of course. Of course.” Luke shook the carving in his hand. “Shevay had said the key keeper had abandon his grandson. His priests, the Raceseyers, tried to bring the key keeper back, but he kept closing the portals with his key. This is that key.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Remember that painting with Alexander’s men? One of the soldiers had this little mammoth carving with the “X” on it.
“I don’t understand.”
“I knew there was something special about him. Grace, Orion is a wizard—the key keeper. That was Orion with Alexander. That’s what that painting was portraying. They tried to get him back, but he escaped again. The Raceseyers finally caught up with him in 1854 in Alabama.”
“Are you talking about the story you told me about Orion Williamson?”
“Yes. They pulled him back into this world when he stepped off that porch and started across that field.”
“Then this key can get us home.”
“No, Grace. Shevay said it only opens the portal into this world, not out of it.” He crammed the carving into her bag.
“Why are you putting it in my bag?”
“Grace, Honey, if something happens to me, you go for the portal and don’t look back.” She bit her lip and slowly nodded. Luke continued, “If you see you can’t make it, you run like the Ozark wind to Orion’s cave. There you will be with good friends, good people. Okay?”
Tears started down Grace’s face. “Luke, I will do what you say.” She wiped at the tears, but they continued. “I don’t know how to thank you for coming after me. This is all my fault.”
“No, Sweetie. It’s not your…” Luke saw a nightmare unfolding in front of him on the plaza. The Raceseyers were pulling Moon by a rope tied around her neck. She was blindfolded, her hands bound behind her back.
Grace turned to see what Luke was looking at. “Oh, no!” She scanned all around. “Where is Adam?”
Luke felt his very soul sink. He squeezed his bow in his hand and nocked an arrow.
Karl marched up to Moon and said something, but he was too far for Luke to hear, and then Karl slapped her so hard she fell to the ground and her blindfold fell off.
“Damn it!” Luke said. But he could do nothing. He had to wait.
One of the Raceseyers shoved Karl aside, as the others hauled Moon to her feet. They marched her to the cross.
“They are g
oing to tie her to the cross,” Grace said. “Oh, my God. Where is Adam?”
One of the Raceseyers pulled a long, copper spike and a hammer from a bag.
“No. No. No.” Grace whispered.
Luke felt the blood race through his body. He raised the bow and took aim. He hesitated, torn. If he shot, they would all be killed and the German would escape through the portal. But inside, his very heart screamed for him to shoot.
Two of the Raceseyers held Moon to the cross as another placed the spike against Moon’s hand. Karl ran up and jerked the hammer from his hand. Even he couldn’t stand it. Another Raceseyer grabbed him and hauled him away. Moon kicked and jerked, but it was no use. She snapped her head side to side, but said nothing as the hammer came down on the spike. But with the second blow, she lost the battle of will and screamed. The darkness was complete now and the bright fire painted evil, crawling shadows over a tortured Special Agent Moon Serling. The Florians cheered.
Luke lowered the bow and looked away. There was nothing he could do. The screams pierced his soul, but he had to bear it. Grace moved to him, buried her face in his side and wept.
The Raceseyers gathered around the stones and another brought horns for them. They slowly began to blow, softly at first, and slowly the lonely note grew louder. They did not move or sway—they were in a trance. Moon had stopped screaming. She had collected herself as well as she could and stared at the twinkling night sky. Luke looked to where she was staring. Orion’s belt shown bright—it always draws your attention. The Florians slowly approached the cross, picking up the stones and clubs and spears. The drums beat louder. The horns grew louder. Luke’s hair began to rise as a charge filled the air, and a vacuum began pulling leaves and sticks toward the hillside. It was beginning.
Moon withstood the first two stones that hit her body, but screamed with pain as the last one slammed into her shin. She collected herself and looked back toward the starry sky in defiance as the white-heads took turns picking up the weapons to hurl at her.
Luke watched as they picked up each stone, but forced himself not to shoot. He kept looking at the mountainside as things were drawn into the portal. It started small and slowly grew. He could see through it as surely as if it were a window. The Florians chanted and sang some crazy song as it grew larger.
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