by Otto Schafer
Garrett looked over at Lenny, smiled, and nodded. “Thanks, bro.”
Lenny grabbed Garrett and wrapped his arms around him in a huge hug that was incredibly painful, but he didn’t care.
David was crying. “You never gave up on me. You crossed the river and came back for me, and what did I do? I gave up too soon.”
“David, you’re looking at this all wrong,” Garrett said. “You didn’t give up. You were just trying to help another friend accept an awful truth. I don’t blame you for that!”
David smiled and threw himself onto Garrett.
As the laughter quieted, David took on an all-too-serious expression. “Seriously, Garrett, you came back for me. I’ll never forget that, not as long as we live. Never.”
Garrett nodded and then shot David a smirk. “Well, if I’d known you were going to get curbside service from Paul riding a rat, I would’ve kept my ass grounded.” But somehow, he knew the river would have just found another way to pull him in. “Hey, where is Paul?”
“Normally he isn’t far from your bedside. Pacing back and forth, waiting for you wake up,” Lenny said.
“He’s feeling better then?”
“All healed up thanks to yours truly,” David said.
“And Coach?” Garrett asked.
“Once we got you guys back across, David healed him then passed out right after—”
Garrett cut him off. “What! You healed him, David! He’s alive?”
David’s eyes fell to the floor. “I been trying, Garrett, and he did regain consciousness yesterday, but I don’t think I had much to do with it. I don’t know why, but it feels different when I try to heal him, like he is resisting it somehow. I wasn’t even healing him when he woke up. I think it’s because he isn’t human.”
Garrett’s heart sank. He had known Coach was in bad shape, but he had hoped he would somehow be okay. He had so many questions that he was sure Coach could have answered. A heavy sadness hung in the air. “I want to see him.”
David nodded. “I will take you there when you’re ready.”
Garrett sighed and pushed himself up onto his elbows, wincing. “So where is here anyway? I feel like I’m in a basement or something.”
His mother reappeared with a tray of food. The small room filled with the aromas of fresh-made bread coated in butter and jam, fresh pineapple, and cured meats. A tall glass of bright orange juice thick with pulp sat on the tray. She set the tray carefully onto Garrett’s lap. “Take it slow, Garrett – you haven’t eaten anything in days. You’ve been getting all your nutrition intravenously.”
Intravenously? Whatever that meant. Garrett grabbed the juice and gulped half of it down. Juice had never tasted better. “This is amazing. Thank you!” He sighed in satisfaction as he reached for a piece of bread.
“Slow, Garrett. Now, I need to see James and let him know you are awake. I will leave you boys to finish catching up but, Lenny, you make sure he takes his time with this food.” Elaine bent and kissed Garrett on the forehead.
As the door pulled closed Garrett said, “You were about to tell me where we are?”
Lenny nodded. “You’re under the dojo.”
“Under the dojo, but it burnt down?”
Lenny stood up. “Yeah, well under isn’t exactly right. One of the entrances to this place is under the dojo, but you’re probably a block to the east, under the old hotel on the other side of Route 6. There is a whole underground labyrinth down here.”
Garrett looked around the small room with renewed curiosity. Suddenly his mind shifted gears. Why am I in a basement? Why is it lit by lanterns when there is a perfectly fine light fixture with a pull chain mounted in the middle of the ceiling? “Guys… what’s going on?”
“Right, well after we got you guys out of the river, we were all borderline hypothermic.” Lenny shivered at the memory. “I hadn’t even had a chance to think about how we were going to all get back across the river when suddenly dozens of people showed up on the dam with lanterns. A few minutes later a john boat paddled up to shore with James at the helm. They wrapped us all in blankets, loaded us up, and brought us here.” Lenny sat back down. “I was too cold and tired to think about it at the time, but now I’m pretty sure the Keepers were watching us, waiting to let it all play out before they interfered. By the time we all got to the square, dozens more people were there waiting for us – waiting for you.”
“Dozens of Keepers?” Garrett asked.
Lenny reached toward Garrett’s tray. “Hundreds, Garrett! People we’ve known all our lives.”
David slapped Lenny’s hand. “Don’t even think about it.”
“What? Like who?” Garrett asked.
Lenny pulled his hand back and shot David a look. “Ms. Harris, Mr. Bloomer, Mr. Holly, Tony from the bait shop, Mr. Bowman from the drugstore and his wife and kid, George. Who else? Oh—”
“Wait, Mr. Holly, the principal, is a Keeper?” Garrett asked.
David laughed. “I know, right? I always hated that guy!”
“Man, I’m just getting started. You got Officer Cullen; the librarian, Ms. Cleary; Ben, the bartender – you remember that guy? Oh! And our high school secretary, Thomas; Mayor Bedfield… Well, you get the point. There are a lot of them.”
“All of them!” Garrett said, sitting up too fast, nearly spilling his juice. His head spun and he slumped back down.
Lenny waved his hands in concern. “Easy, bro. You’ve been sleeping for a while, best to go slow.”
“Right. How long have I been asleep?”
Lenny and David looked at each other, then back at Garrett.
“Ten days now,” David said.
“Ten days!” He bolted upright again.
Lenny was ready this time and snatched the juice glass from the tray before it toppled.
Again, Garrett’s head spun, but he stayed sitting up, waiting for it to pass. “We have to get started.”
Lenny and David looked at each other and smiled.
“We know, Garrett, and we will be ready when you are. But first your people are waiting to see you,” David said.
“My people? What are you talking about?” Garrett didn’t like this at all. He could clearly see the looks they were sharing like they had some big secret they weren’t spilling.
“Garrett, there is a book you need to read – well, not a book as much as a…” Lenny looked up, searching for the word as if he expected it to be stamped on the ceiling.
Garrett looked up too. “What?”
“Oh shit, man, just tell him already,” David said, unable to stand the suspense any longer. “Dude, you’re going to get so many chicks.”
Lenny shook his head. “You’re kind of a big deal now, man. Turns out this book of Turek’s told how all this would go. The whole prophecy thing, remember? But it is way more than just what happened in the temple. I don’t want to ruin the end for you, but it tells us what we’re supposed to do next. Says we’re going to set things right, and you’re going to lead us.”
46
The Giant King
Thursday, April 7 – God Stones Day 2
Rural Chiapas State, Mexico
The sound of stone scraping across stone raked pain through Gabi’s skull. She forced open her eyes to a vision of blurred beige. Near her, she heard a great grunt and the ground beneath her shook. She blinked her eyes until the blur cleared to reveal she was surrounded by limestone. Where am I? Carefully she pushed herself up onto her palms and looked for the source of the sound.
Her heart caught when she saw the massive giant lifting a large chunk of stone, hugging it to his chest like a burlap bag of fresh-picked coffee. It seemed to pay her no attention as it walked toward an opening and out onto some kind of ledge. She understood now, she was no longer in camp. She was up the mountain, inside the opening the giant had come from. The entrance to the pyramid? She looked the other way, down the newly unclogged corridor. It was only partially cleared – that was what the giant was doing, she reali
zed, clearing the stone that filled the corridor. María Purísima, her head hurt! Carefully she touched the lump on the back of her head and inspected her hand, expecting to see blood, but there was none. She looked at the ceiling. It was made of smoothly worked stone that spanned the width of the corridor, with flawless seams every meter or so. This meant the rubble the giant was removing wasn’t a collapse – it was placed here intentionally. To hide this place. Why else?
The giant tossed the boulder over the side then turned back to face her. He took three long strides toward her.
Gabi pushed herself back against the cool stone wall. Her heart was beating so fast now. It was going to kill her! She lifted her hands, palms out, as if she could push him away.
The giant, easily over three meters tall, bent toward her, its big, black eye coming close to her. “You fear me?”
Gabi froze. It’s speaking to… to me? But its lips didn’t move – did they?
The giant rose back to its full height. “You are in pain?” he asked, and the single orb in the middle of its face blinked. “Please, let me help.”
Suddenly a warmth, like warm water, filled her head, then her neck and back. It wasn’t the feeling of water being poured over her head, but a wet warmth in her head. It felt wonderful. Then, as the feeling of warm water faded, her pain went with it. She blinked and rubbed the back of her head. The lump was gone, and her back no longer stung.
“I’m afraid only time can heal the pain in your heart,” the giant said, then it paused as if listening for something. “Ah, beneath your fear is something else… anger. But you misplace your hate. You are not angry with me, human girl. Your anger is with Azazel. Why do you attack me with the magic weapon?”
Strangely Gabi could understand the words, but she wasn’t sure how that could be. Yet she could. Its voice was calm, and its words were clear. Gabi spoke Spanish and English perfectly. She spoke the Maya language Tzotzil pretty well too, but the giant wasn’t speaking any language she knew. Or, wait, was it speaking all of them? The thing’s mouth wasn’t moving when it spoke. She realized she wasn’t hearing him with her ears; she was hearing him in her mind. There was something else in that voice though, something strangely familiar. His voice had a fatherly tone. It was so unexpected. No, there was something else – his voice was not just fatherly, but was that of her own father, Andrés. It’s my papa! Her heart ached at the sound of her father’s voice, and the realization nearly broke her.
“I’ve upset you with this voice? I’m sorry. I thought it would be familiar… comfortable. I can change it.”
“No.” Her throat constricted with emotion. “Please don’t.” She answered quickly, not understanding why, only knowing she wanted to hear her father’s voice more than anything.
The giant stood, looming over her. “I am King Ogliosh of the nephilbock. Mine are peaceful people from a time long ago. We seek only to open the door that takes us home. Your Andrés was killed not by me but by my enemy.”
She hadn’t said her father’s name, but she had thought it. It must be somehow reading her thoughts. The mention of her father and the word killed in the same sentence caused her heart to catch. Its enemy? The dragon? She looked up, noticing it was looking down expectantly, as if waiting for her to speak, but before she could, her father’s voice returned.
“Yes, that’s right – my enemy is what you call a dragon.” Ogliosh nodded sagely. “I know your pain, Gabi. I am sorry for your loss. I only wish I could have stopped the soulless beast, but I was fleeing for my own life after waking to find Azazel trying to kill me.”
So it was reading her mind.
Her father’s soothing voice rang out in her mind again as the giant continued. “Gabi, I am listening to your thoughts. Everything you think, I hear. Your mind is like a room with a door. The door is open, but you can close it. Focus your thoughts on my voice. Feel me inside your mind. Can you feel my presence?”
Gabi thought back, Yes.
“Good. Now push the door to your mind closed. It should feel like a pressure. But before you do, understand when you feel me press against your mind you will need to open the door for us to communicate. If you don’t open the door, I can’t come in. Try it now.”
Gabi focused on the giant’s presence in her mind and immediately she could feel it in her head. As directed, she thought about the room and the door. Her brows furrowed as she concentrated, visualizing the door shutting. Suddenly the giant was gone from her mind and everything was still. Her thoughts were hers and hers alone. Outside of Gabi’s mind, she felt the giant pressing on the door. Now she pictured herself opening it.
“Excellent! You see, when we are not talking or when you want to think about something you don’t want me to hear, simply shut the door. If I want to talk to you, I can press on the door. If you want to talk to me just think to me. Excuse me now,” Ogliosh said. Turning, he walked back and picked up another large boulder and brought it back to the opening.
Gabi felt the boulder hit the ground after the giant let it fall from his arms. King Ogliosh turned back to face her, ambled over, and peered down at her with his strange oblong eye. Slowly he knelt; his giant knees popped, echoing through the corridor. Then he placed one of his large six-digit hands flat onto the floor and shifted into a sitting position, crossing his large legs. He rested the strange hands on his knees as if preparing to meditate. Even sitting he was still much, much taller than her.
Her heart began to slow as the feeling of imminent danger passed. With the giant sitting down and the late-day sun pouring into the opening, Gabi could really look at the strange being. She stared at its odd six-digit hands resting on its knees. Black veins spiderwebbed just under the surface of its waxy, pale skin. She wondered oddly if its blood was black too. Most of its skin was bare, except for his loincloth of what she guessed was jaguar hides and a tunic made of what almost looked like lizard or snakeskin. But she couldn’t imagine the size of the creature necessary to make a tunic this large, and there were no visible seams in the garment. Some form of leather hides, wrapped and stitched, covered his massive feet. He was covered in scars – old battle wounds, she guessed. She let her eyes wander to his face, which was also scarred and wrinkled. His lower jaw protruded with a bad underbite, and his mouth seemed to be overcrowded with teeth. Then, suddenly and quite terribly, he smiled. The crow’s feet on each side of the giant’s eye folded up like the bellows of an accordion. But it was the smile that made her want to run out of the opening and jump from the mountainside. Every tooth in his enormous mouth was large, sharp, and stained the brown color of old rusty blood.
Seeming to sense her discomfort, he closed his mouth.
King Ogliosh looked nothing like he sounded in her mind, and as she gazed upon him, she could only see horror – until, that is, she let her eyes meet his. There, surrounded by unbearable ugliness, she found something so beautiful it must have been fueled by magic. The long oval orb shone brightly with colors spun in different shades of blue, like Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night come to life.
The giant was sitting. She could run. She could take off and run for the opening right now before it was too late. She could find Sarah. Sarah! Where was Sarah? She could go now before he ate her or smashed her. But she didn’t move.
“I’m not going to hurt you… or eat you for that matter. Your mind is fuzzy, and you don’t remember exactly what happened to you or to your friend Sarah,” the giant said in her father’s soothing voice.
Her face flushed as she realized she had thought all this with her mind open. She felt almost guilty as the giant continued in the same tone her father had used when she was little and afraid to sleep alone – the tone he used to convince her it was going to be okay and there was nothing to fear.
“It’s going to be okay, Gabi – let me explain. Your Sarah was using the magic weapon against me, which is understandable – she was scared. I tried to stop her while being careful not to hurt her. You were scared too. You backed away, fell, and hit you
r head. Your friend ran off into the woods. I assume she went to get help – that’s what I would do.”
Was that what happened? Gabi wasn’t sure. No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn’t remember how she got here. She remembered Sarah shouting and gunshots, but then everything went fuzzy. She was so confused and scared, but if the giant was going to hurt her, he would have already done it, right? She wanted her parents back, and she wanted the dragon that killed them to die for what it did, and where was Sarah? What if she didn’t come back? She tried to hold back tears, but they spilled over, running down her face as she began to shudder.
“Your friend will get help and come for you. In the meantime, you are safe here with me. The day is late, and darkness will soon follow. The jungle at night is no place for a young girl alone. For now, tell me about your world, Gabi. Tell me of this magic you wield and what other magic your kind possesses. In return I will tell you of Azazel and how she can be killed.” Then his voice changed to one of sympathy. “I can feel your pain. Stay with me and your parents’ deaths will be avenged. I don’t know how, but the God Stones have been assembled into the Sound Eye. Others are coming, and I must prepare for their arrival. We can talk while I work.”
She didn’t understand that last part, but she knew she didn’t want to go off alone into the jungle, especially not at night. She also didn’t know why, but she trusted this… creature. And she wanted to know more. She wanted to know what he knew, and she wanted to know about the dragon.
Sarah felt hands under her arms and the sensation of being pulled.
“Sarah! Sarah, can you hear me?” a voice whispered urgently.
“What’s happening?” she moaned and tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t respond. Without warning, as if being plugged into an outlet, her mind connected with her body in a flood of pain and her eyes flung open.
