by Otto Schafer
The giant stopped and turned, peering down the mountain.
Gabi’s eyes went wide. “No! Sarah, please!”
Another burst of gunfire rang out, followed by a metallic click. Sarah dropped her head and began loading the gun again.
Gabi headed toward the truck but didn’t take her eyes off the giant as he leapt from the flat area of the mountain, landing on the steep slope as if he were on an invisible skateboard. Rocks, shrubs, and small trees tore loose from the ground as he began a reckless slide, his feet churning up the loose earth as gravity pulled him toward them.
“Sarah! It’s coming!” she shouted. She reached Sarah and grabbed her by the sleeve.
Sarah jerked her head up as she staggered forward off balance, her eyes flashing with panic. She dropped the rifle to the ground with a clatter. “Oh no! What have I done!” She started for the truck.
Gabi had started to flee too, but she stopped when she heard the gun fall to the ground. She didn’t know why but for some instinctual reason she would never understand she made a knee-jerk decision, turned, and went for the gun.
“No, Gabi, forget it! Just get in the truck!” Sarah dove in through the window, not bothering with the door.
Rocks and boulders careened down the mountain. Within seconds the giant was on them.
There was no time, and she didn’t know much about guns. Sarah had managed to get the magazine back in before she dropped it, but she hadn’t pulled the thing back. Frantically, Gabi searched for the thing she needed to pull to get a round into the rifle. She yanked it back with a click and it snapped back with a clack. She turned to point the long gun with hands trembling. She had shot before but only targets, never a living thing.
“No, Gabi! Get away! Run!”
The giant slid to a stop in the clearing between Gabi and the vehicles. His one giant eye searched the vehicles for the source of the shouts. The big eye fixed itself on Sarah, and the giant stepped forward.
Gabi took aim.
The giant roared.
“No!” Gabi screamed, firing the rifle into the giant’s back.
The giant turned, reaching for her.
Gabi stepped back and fell, striking her head hard on a stone.
The giant turned away from her and kicked the utility truck.
Sarah screamed as the truck flipped off the clearing and down into the jungle, crashing apart as it rolled into the gorge far below.
Gabi tried to sit up, but the world spun.
As darkness closed in, the last thing she saw was an enormous blurry eye hovering over her.
45
Reborn of Dragon Fire and Blood
Saturday, April 16 – God Stones Day 10
Petersburg, Illinois
Long blades of prairie grass swooshed, like waves in a vast ocean, as a gentle breeze pushed across an open field. The blue sky was cloudless as the sun shone warmly on Garrett’s face. It seemed like a perfect day. He closed his eyes, inhaling long and deep as the smell of prairie sage, aster, and columbine permeated his senses, intermixing in an exotic bouquet of fragrances.
When he opened his eyes again the whole world erupted in flame.
At least Garrett’s world did, and all he could see around him was burning. He spun. What’s happening? The sky was darker now, blotted out by smoke. The breeze no longer felt good across his face; instead it felt hot, dry, and hard to breathe. He was still standing in the field on top of a rolling hill of dry prairie grass. The field overlooked a valley and beyond this was a forest as far as his eyes could see. A forest on fire. He didn’t need to wonder where the flames came from – dragons. He couldn’t see them, but he could hear them in the distance all around him. Hungry screams of dragons as they set the earth ablaze.
Garrett held out a palm to try and shield his face from the heat. At the opposite end of the field stood a man in a long, white robe. Garrett ran across the field. He didn’t know why he felt compelled to run to him, but he did, and as he reached him, the robed man turned to face him. His long hair and beard were light grey in contrast to his dark skin. He smiled at Garrett.
“I am proud of you, my son.”
Garrett looked up at the man, old and weathered, like a man who’d lived his whole life under a scornful sun. He had kind eyes hooded by brows etched in wrinkles set deep into his leathery skin. “But I failed. I didn’t stop Apep, and now the whole world will burn.” Saying it made Garrett’s heart ache and his throat constrict.
The flames closed tighter around them. Garrett caught movement behind the man. Others were standing in the distance, though he could only see their silhouettes. But silhouettes were like signatures, and Garrett could read each one. “Mr. B! And my dad!” He longed for them, longed to push past the robed man and run to them.
Then the robed man spoke again. “Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, you and yours have not failed. You fulfilled my prophecy, but your journey has only just begun. You have much to do.”
“I don’t understand. What am I supposed to do?”
“You must set right what has long been wrong. This is the only way to save humankind.”
“What does that mean?” Garrett asked.
“You will know,” the man said reassuringly.
“But how will I know?”
The man smiled, “Because I gave you a heart. All you have to do is follow it.” He turned away toward the dragons and the flames, and Garrett sensed his time was short.
Wait! “Are you… Are you god?”
The man turned back to him and appraised him for a long moment, then said, “I created humankind.”
Garrett thought about this, his brows furrowing. Finally, he asked, “Did you create everything?”
The man smiled and it was the warmest smile Garrett had ever seen. It was full and bright and most of all it was proud, and Garrett knew the smile was for the question. The silver bearded man’s head nodded sagely. But the nod was not an answer to the question. Rather, it signaled approval of the question.
“No. I am one of seven creators.”
Garrett’s furrow deepened. He suddenly had dozens of questions swimming through his mind, and he thought he could easily fire them off, one after another, like a five-year-old asking why over and over, but something instinctively told him he only had one shot at this. He needed to make the next question count. “Who created you? Who is god?”
The man bent lower to meet Garrett’s eyes. He was still smiling, and now Garrett could see something danced in his eyes – a spark of silver-blue flame.
“The mother. The one who clapped her hands and created something when there was nothing.” He stood erect and pointed a finger down at Garrett. All expressions of warmth had fallen away.
The fire closed in around them. “You are hereby reborn of the dragon blood and fire. And Garrett?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Be sure and follow your heart.”
Garrett swallowed and nodded.
The flames closed over his head.
“Now wake, my child, the journey lies ahead of you.”
Garrett opened his eyes and gasped. He was back in the river. Everything was out of focus. The murky water must be clouding his vision. He started to panic. He had to swim! Swim to the surface and find air! He flailed his arms, waiting for water to burn his lungs. But the burn never came. Then he felt a hand on his chest.
“Easy, Garrett, easy. Take it slow,” a voice said.
He recognized the voice as Breanne’s. The warmth from her hand and soft voice calmed him, and he knew then he was no longer in the river. He settled back into a pillow; blinking rapidly, he fought to clear his fuzzy vision. He couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have seen when he woke. His heart began to pound as he took in her beauty. Her braids were pulled back in a ponytail, revealing her perfect skin, dark and smooth. She wore no makeup, and he doubted she ever did. Why would she? She had a natural beauty that makeup would be wasted on. She was breathtaking. Garrett’s heart began to beat eve
n faster as he held her stare.
“Jesus, Bre, I thought I lost you… I thought… I thought Apep took you away. Bre! Oh, Bre! Thank god!” The words came in a croak rather than a shout as he fought forward through the tangle of blankets to embrace her.
“Honey, please, settle down. You’re okay, I am here.”
Garrett’s vision went blurry again and he blinked. The voice was no longer Bre’s. “What’s happening! Bre!”
“Garrett, honey, it’s your mother. Calm down. You are safe now,” Elaine said, placing her hand back on his chest.
Still confused, he settled back. As his surroundings came into focus, he could see he was in a small room, plain and windowless. The ceiling was low, and there was no light other than what shone from two gas lanterns. The floor was plain concrete, and the walls appeared to be made of concrete block with no windows. Worst of all, there was no Bre. Slowly his eyes glanced up the block wall, coming to rest on the ceiling. Garrett cocked his head, his eyes knitting together as he realized he was looking up at exposed joist. The air around him was cool and clammy too, as if he were underground. What is this place?
Elaine drew her hand back from his chest. “Welcome back.”
Garrett tried to speak. “Where… where am…” But his throat was dry, and now he realized just how bad speaking hurt.
She reached for a glass of water from on top of a wood crate that had been tipped onto its side, now posing as a nightstand. “You don’t have to talk, Garrett. I know you have questions for me, but all in time.” She placed the glass to his lips, tipping it carefully. “Right now, I think you want to know what happened?”
He took a long pull from the glass and nodded.
Elaine sat the water down and turned to Lenny, who Garrett hadn’t even noticed was sitting in an overstuffed chair across the tiny room. “Lenny never left your side, Garrett. He should be the one to tell you what happened. Now, Lenny, I am going to leave you two alone while I get Garrett some food. You must be starved,” Elaine said, standing. “Oh, Garrett, we are so proud of you.” She smiled.
Garrett saw it then, the false smile. A smile created to conceal a truth, but it was thin as paper, as transparent as window glass. Behind the smile was stress. But more, there was a deep exhaustion like she hadn’t slept in days. “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“You okay?” he asked, realizing too late how stupid the question was.
“I am now,” she reassured him. Then nodding she said, “Talk to your friend. I’ll be back.”
Lenny stood and grabbed the small wooden chair Elaine had occupied, spun it around, and straddled it. “Bro, that was seriously awkward listening to you confuse your mom with a hot chick you clearly want to hook up with. I would give you crap, but considering we have a shit ton to cover I’m going to let it slide!” Lenny laughed and rubbed his hands together. “Alright, let’s start with rat boy. Apparently back when we were in the chamber, a rat cornered David. He woke up with the thing licking his face.” Lenny shivered involuntarily and pulled a face. “Anyway, David says he ‘freaked out,’” – Lenny gave the words air quotes – “and screamed, and I mean, who could blame him, right? Yeah, well, whatever. Little mustached creep probably liked it. David tries to push it off and as he does his hand slips into a bloody cut on the side of the rat. Nasty, right!? Well, without even trying he gets the Bruce Leroy glow and he heals the rat. David said with everything happening so fast he didn’t have time to think about it and just got the hell out of there. But later when he was drowning under the brush pile, he said the rat crashed into it, knocking him off. And, bro, here’s the best part! Paul was on the rat’s back! He’s alive, bro! He yells at David, ‘Grab on!’ So David grabs the thing’s tail! Can you believe that shit!? Rats are great swimmers and apparently giant rats are even better. The rat walked right up onto the bank and then laid down so Paul could climb off! Un-freaking believable!”
“No. Not unbelievable. The last thing I remember before I went under was seeing Paul, David, and the rat,” Garrett said huskily.
“Well, there you go! Here, take another drink – you sound like ass.”
Garrett took a drink. “Where is Pete?”
“Well, he hasn’t exactly been himself, but he is starting to come around, I think. Anyway, and this is kind of weird, Paul said the rat had the same golden eyes as Janis. He also said the rat seemed to know him. After it squeezed though the crevice it swam under Paul and lifted him to the top of the water. He rode the thing out!”
“Crazy,” Garrett said.
“Crazier than a shithouse rat! So, Petey has been down at the river every day trying to find it. I told him to just leave the thing alone before he ends up with rabies. I mean the dude already made out with a space alien elf chick – who knows what he will do if he finds that rat!” Lenny laughed.
“Len,” he began hoarsely, “how am I alive? I was going over the dam, I know I was… it was right there… but then I… I think I died.”
The door flew open and David burst in, clean-shaven except for his mustache, which seemed strangely longer, with twisted ends. “I heard you were awake!” he said, approaching the bed and slapping Garrett on the shoulder.
Garrett grimaced involuntarily. The friendly pat sent a shock wave through his body, lighting up all the soreness from worn muscles down through his aching chest and bruised ribs before settling into his strained legs.
“We were just talking about you, rat boy,” Lenny said.
“I told you not to call me that, Lenny.” David’s eyes narrowed.
“Take it easy. I Just finished telling the part about how you healed the rat that you and Paul rode out of the river.”
“Oh, did you tell the part about how you saved him yet? You didn’t, did you? Oh, let me! You told my part – come on, let me tell yours!”
Lenny held up his hands. “Go ahead, it would be weird for me to tell it anyway.”
David flopped down on the edge of the bed. “Right. So check this, Lenny got some superpower at the last minute and could see you out in the river, heading right for the dam. You were already… well, you weren’t moving. I mean you were moving down river, but you weren’t moving.”
“Jesus, David, he knows what you mean,” Lenny said.
Garrett pushed up onto his elbows, winced, and fell back into the pillow. “You got night vision? Wait, like Janis said she had?”
“Yep, and then—”
“Anyway!” One horn of David’s mustache rose higher than the other in a threatening sneer. “I’m telling it. So, suddenly Lenny figures what he has to do and takes off running right for the busted part of the dam. Then you know what this guy does?” He paused for dramatic effect. “He jumps in!”
Garrett looked at Lenny in disbelief. “Into the busted dam, Len?”
Lenny shrugged.
“I know, right?! He doesn’t land in the water per se, he sort of…” He paused again – this time not for effect but to find a way to tell it. “Okay, you ever see those martial arts movies where the kung fu guys run across the treetops?”
Garrett nodded. Silly question – he and Lenny had seen just about every kung fu movie ever made.
“Well, that’s what he did. He landed on the water – then he ran across it, feather light.” David waved his hand in a long arc while wiggling his fingers. “His feet barely made contact with the water. It was insane, just like in those kung fu movies. I was on the opposite side of the river, the side you found me on, Garrett. So I didn’t see him jump in, but I heard Lenny’s voice shout this, I dunno, war cry from across the dam. So I turn, like, what the hell? The next thing I see is the silhouette of Lenny running on top of the water! Then just as you start to go over, Lenny reaches down with his staff, hooks you by the collar, and takes – oh what, Lenny? about three more strides? – while dragging you through the water.” He doesn’t wait for Lenny to respond. “Laws of physics be dammed, next thing I know Lenny’s pulling you off the dam and laying you out on the shore. I stood
there frozen for a minute. I couldn’t believe it. Once you were on the bank, we laid you out flat on your back.”
“You healed me?” Garrett asked.
David looked down and shook his head gravely. “Heck no, Garrett. There wasn’t nothing for me to heal. You were gone. Dead as a doornail.”
Garrett frowned and looked at Lenny.
“He’s telling the truth. You didn’t have a pulse, bro. I thought for sure I lost my best friend.” Lenny placed a hand on Garrett’s arm.
“Then how am I… how am I here?”
“Well, just because you were dead, wasn’t either one of us ready to give up,” David said, a smile stretching back across his face. “I tried to heal you with the glow a few times, but with you being dead it wouldn’t come.” He turned to Lenny, frowning now. “And no matter how many times this dickhole threatened to kill me if I didn’t save you, the glow still wouldn’t come. Like I tried to explain in the moment, there has to be life to heal and you didn’t have any. But Lenny wasn’t hearing it, so he starts giving you CPR and, for the record, I may have had to lip lock with you.” David waggled his eyebrows, which made his mustache twitch creepily.
“And for the record, I think he liked it. He had that ’stache all up in your mouth,” Lenny added.
“So anyway,” David said, frowning, “we gave you CPR for what seemed like, I don’t know, forever.” He took a deep breath, casting his eyes down at the floor, and tears began to well.
Garrett scrunched his brows together. “What is it?”
“I told Lenny you were gone – that you were dead. I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. I told him I was sorry but there was nothing more we could do. Don’t you see, Garrett? I gave up on you.” He raised his watery eyes. “Lenny shrugged me off. He screamed at you. He told you that you weren’t allowed to die – that you were just getting started. He said he needed you – that the world needed you. He got right in your face and screamed that Bre needed you, and then he started beating on your chest. I knew it was desperate and hopeless, and I just started crying. Then you know what? Your eyes sprang open, Garrett! And then you ralphed river water all over Lenny! It was the best thing I ever saw!”
