“You will see for yourself,” Moon said. “We are going back tonight.”
“Sha-She has lost her mind,” Adam said.
“We have been invited. If we want to keep peace in this world, we must go.” Moon pulled from her pack one of the stones that attracted the lightning and held it up. “You’re gonna want to see this.”
Chapter 16
The city was lit up with all its splendor. Torches lined the streets, candles twinkled in the windows, music seemed to drift from every direction, and the pyramid sparked and zapped. Luke and the group walked down the street with no interference—people just looked on and nodded as they walked past. Yes, they were expected. Luke hoped it was not a trap. He knew Adam was suspicious as well and did not want to come.
“Relax,” Moon said. “It’s either going to turn out good or it’s going to turn out bad. Either way, we have no choice. We would have never crossed the prairie alive if they wanted to harm us.”
Luke figured she was right; no need to worry now. They had no weapons—Moon insisted they leave them behind. That was a sticking point for Luke and Adam. Moon won out.
There were a lot more people in the city than they had previously seen—more giants, too. It appeared to be some sort of festival, and the way everyone was looking at them, they must be the guests of honor.
“Look,” Grace said, pointing to a group of men standing on a stone platform. They had clothes made entirely of feathers, bright and shiny, red feathers like huge parrots. They looked somewhat like the horn blowers, but they weren’t orange nor giants.
“What’s going on here, Moon?” Luke said.
“I don’t know exactly what it is, but there is something special for them in the sky tonight. And guess what gang? We are just in time to see it.”
Luke looked up at the sky. It was speckled with a billion stars. “Oh, joy, we are so fortunate. If we are lucky enough, they may cut our hearts out and throw them from the pyramid.”
Shevay was perched on an ivory throne at the top of a fifty-foot, stone stairway like some Mayan god. Torches were strategically placed to reflect flickering light off his body and jewels. Guards came and escorted the group up the steep stairs.
“It appears we are, indeed, the guests of honor,” Luke said.
Shevay smiled and nodded as the group sat on the stone benches beside him.
Next, the guards brought the red-feathered men up the stairs and sat them beside Luke and the group.
Below, a procession of women came and sat on benches below the steps. They were tall women, yet a little shorter than the giants. They were clad in gold and jewels. No doubt, they were royalty.
Music drifted through the city, low and soothing. There were horns, drums, and strings. Luke could not figure where it originated; it was like stereo.
A troop of children came up the steps carrying feathered head dressings that looked like the ones the red-feathered men were wearing. They placed one on Luke’s head and then the rest. Luke felt ridiculous, but Moon and Grace smiled. Each child bowed toward Shevay as each descended the steps.
A short man, a dwarf, ran to the area immediately below the steps. He began turning flips and dancing. The crowd laughed and cheered. Shevay clapped his hands and laughed. Next, a magician came as the dwarf left. He juggled three balls and then made them disappear. Then he brought in a pretty woman. He made her levitate. The group roared with approval. This went on for a time, one show after the next: a man and a bear, four women dancing, a man and his flute, and on and on.
Moon leaned toward Luke and whispered, “I don’t see Karl.”
Luke looked around. “I reckon he didn’t get tickets.”
The music stopped, and it all grew quiet. Everyone looked up at the starry sky.
“What are they doing?” Luke said.
“I’m not sure,” Moon said.
Two men came up the steps carrying a large wooden table. It was more like a chopping block. Another man brought up a large flat, bronze or gold, knife and placed it on the table, and the three men left back down the steps.
Two men began beating on drums below. Luke hadn’t even known they were there before. The sound was exactly like the sound he had heard before he and Moon went through the portal. Moon and Luke looked at each other.
“Kapow!” The top of the pyramid exploded into activity. The crowd moaned. The charge from the peak danced and crackled more than Luke had previously seen. A blue-white beam shot from the pyramid and streaked up into the night sky. The peak crackled again and beams went horizontal in six different directions. The beams did not waver; they were like laser beams, steady, brilliant. In the distance beams rose from other far off places. The beams aimed at the same place in the sky.
“Orion’s belt,” Moon said. Luke looked up and saw all the beams from the ground were merging in that direction.
“That is correct, Sha-She,” Shevay said. “You call it Orion. It is the place of our God. It is where we come from.”
“Where are the six horizontal beams going?” Luke said.
“Other cities. They are pointing to their pyramids many distances away. This is the night when our God lines up with the stars. We worship and sacrifice at the exact same time.”
“Sacrifice?” Grace said.
Shevay stood and two giants came up the steps. One stood at the wooden table and picked up the large knife. The other took hold of one of the feathered men. The feathered man howled and jerked from the giant, but it was useless. The giants bent the man over the table. One of the giants brought the large knife high in the air. Luke covered his eyes; no way could he look. He heard the knife whack into the wood. The crowd cheered. Through his fingers he saw the feathered headdress tumbled down the steps. Luke remembered they were wearing the same headdresses. The next feathered man started screaming and yelling more than the first. After another whack the screaming stopped and the second headdress tumbled down the steps. Luke knew the best thing to do was run. He lowered his hands and made ready to pull Moon to her feet. That is when he saw the two men standing to the side with their heads bare, but still very much attached to their shoulders. The next man was pulled to the block screaming. It was all symbolic. When the knife came down, the man threw his headdress down the steps.
Luke wiped sweat from his eyes. He took slow breaths and tried to relax himself. He looked over the crowd. He inspected the beams. Is this what happened on his earth in ancient times?
Luke was last, and when he was pulled from his seat, he howled and jerked like the others. He cringed when the knife hit the block, but he tossed his headdress down the steps as the rest had. “Bravo, Constable,” Moon said.
Eventually the beams weakened and went out. Shevay stood and gave a speech. The crowd cheered. More torches were lit. Food was brought in on carts. The festival continued.
Moon took Luke’s hand as they made their way to a food cart. Luke felt his face grow red, but he didn’t think about it because he was too confused and worried about what would come next.
The festivities went on for hours. Luke didn’t understand it all, but it appeared to him the event was a holiday like Christmas back home—a big deal. There was more and more about this world Luke did not understand. What was the deal with all those beams and the pyramid? What about the levitation of the stones? What about the precision of everything—the pyramid, the buildings and columns, the gold jewelry, the cobblestone streets? This part of this world was not a primitive society, not by a long shot.
Guards took them into a giant room in the pyramid to spend the night—big as a high school gym, with painted murals on the wall; the ceiling was painted black with shiny stars—looked real; a large bath with running water—big enough for all of them to bathe at the same time; beds with soft mattresses. There was gold everywhere.
Luke and Moon sat on a marble bench as the others explored and marveled at the room. “I bet you think different of your ancient history now,” Moon said.
Luke didn’t take his gaz
e from the starry ceiling. “What does this have to do with our history? We’re in another world.”
“Etoiles.” Luke turned to see Grace pointing at the starry ceiling. “Stars,” she said. Moon had given her a few French words to work on translation with Wak’o.
“Stars,” Wak’o repeated.
Moon grinned and turned back to Luke. “Like I told you, ancients moved between the portals from this world to yours.”
“She is right.” Luke turned around to see Shevay coming through the grand door. This time he was alone. The giant, with all his majesty, sat down beside Luke and Moon. “As I got to know Glen Turner, as we told each other of our worlds, I realized his world is the same world our portals once went to.”
“Do you go there anymore?” Luke said.
“The portals, as you call them, stopped working many years ago. One may blink open every now and then, but they are dangerous to use. However, when I was young, we journeyed through them. There were great cities there: Clearvoy, Pumapunku, Atlantis, Ponkari, and others.”
Luke felt a chill. “Atlantis?”
“Yes.”
“Were the people there like you?” Moon said.
“Like me?” Shevay shrugged his great shoulders. “There were some Nephilim.”
“But now you are cut off from them,” Moon said.
“For now. Maybe the portals will open later.”
“I wish they would open right now and get us back home,” Luke said.
“There are the odd events that happen,” Shevay said. “Glen Turner is one of them.”
“Yeah, I guess we are the odd event too,” Luke said, “and Orion.”
“Yes,” Shevay said, “but not Orion.”
“You know about Orion?” Luke said.
“Of course.” Shevay smiled. “I knew about all of you.”
“Then you know about the portal we came through with those damn white-headed people,” Luke said.
“Yes. It is the only continuously active portal that I am aware of.”
“But you said they were all closed except for one blinking open now and then,” Moon said.
“I said the ones that did open are dangerous. We have hidden the portals from the other peoples of this world, except for that one. The Florians found it. They do not really understand what it is. They sacrifice the odd animal that comes through it.”
“And people,” Luke said.
Shevay ignored the people part. “If the Florians didn’t have something to sacrifice at times, I believe they would destroy the portal. They are a mean and crude people.”
“Can you control the portals? Can you open and close them?” Moon said.
“Yeah,” Luke said. “You can send us back to our world.”
Shevay hesitated, but then said, “No. Years ago we could, but not anymore. The last time we controlled the portals, we sent a party through the portal that you came in through, but they did not come back.”
“You sent Nephilim into it?” Moon said.
“Of course not. We sent guards.”
Moon stood and approached Shevay. “Did any of these guards have special knowledge or at least knowledge of how this civilization works?”
Shevay bowed his great, long head. “Two did. One was my grandson. The other was the key keeper.”
“You said—” Luke started.
“My grandson was only quarter Nephilim.”
“What was the key keeper?” Moon said.
“He was the wizard that opened the return portals with his special key. He was descended from key keepers as far back as time.”
“And they never returned?” Moon said as she sat back down.
“The key keeper was young and a rogue. For some unknown reason, the key keeper abandoned my grandson and the party. He didn’t want to return back to our world. My priests, Raceseyers, found him, but he closed the portal with his key before they could retrieve him. Years later they found him again and pulled him through a portal before he could close it.”
“Why didn’t he take the key and escape?” Luke said.
“The key doesn’t work that way. It only opens the portal from the outside world. He could move from portal to portal in that world only. Once he was back here, only the Raceseyers could open a portal. Excuse me—once could open a portal.”
“How did your priests find him, but can’t find your grandson?” Luke asked.
“My priests could follow the force of the key. It is like a beacon.”
“My guess is you killed the key keeper,” Moon said.
“I cannot. My religion will not let me kill the wizard.”
“Did he tell you where your grandson was?” Luke said.
“He would not.”
“So you don’t know where he went?” Luke said.
“I didn’t for years, but now I do.”
“How do you know now?” Moon said.
“The party took things with them. My grandson carried a small, star sphere,” Shevay said.
“Will-o’-the-wisp!” Luke said.
Shevay smiled. “Yes. That’s what Glen Turner called it.”
“But what does that have to do with anything?” Moon said.
“When Karl appeared with his bell, there was a container of the green liquid from a star sphere in the bell.”
“Xerum 525,” Moon said.
“What?” Luke said.
“It was the stuff that powered the bell,” Moon said. “They probably used up all the small sphere to propel the bell back to here. If Karl were to bring more spheres back to his time—”
“The Germans will win the war,” Luke said. “But wait a minute. There are legends of Will-o’-the-wisps in my world.”
“They must be different. They have to be or the Germans would have used them.” Moon got up and paced. “Where is Karl now?”
“He left for the Florian portal,” Shevay said.
Moon stopped pacing. “Why didn’t you stop him?”
Shevay stood. His great height dwarfed Moon. “He said he would bring my grandson back to me.”
“He’s lying,” Moon said. “You didn’t give him that key, did you?”
“The key is lost and only descendants from the key keepers can use it anyway. Karl was going to bring my grandson back with the bell, but for some reason it exploded,” Shevay said. His tone grew angry.
“Great Shevay, Karl and his people were horrible killers. They killed millions. We must stop him from going into the portal,” Moon said.
“Can you bring me back my grandson?”
“Shevay, your grandson didn’t survive the big war in that world, or I would have known about him,” Moon said.
Shevay started for the door and guards appeared on both sides of it.
“Shevay, I’m sorry, but it is true,” Moon said. “Karl and his people did horrible things.”
Shevay turned back. “Haven’t we all?” He turned and went through the door. The guards closed it behind him.
Luke pulled Moon back down to the bench. “What does this all mean?”
Moon stared at the door that Shevay had gone through. “If Karl makes it back, the world will be very different.”
Luke held her hands in his. “Shevay said the portal is unstable. Who knows where Karl will go if he gets out through the portal.”
“I’m not convinced Shevay doesn’t still control the portals,” Moon said. “Even if he doesn’t, Karl is still a Nazi with knowledge that is too dangerous. There is still a Nazi movement in your time, waiting for the right opportunity to rise. He must not leave this world.”
Luke didn’t know how she planned on stopping him, but he believed she meant what she said.
Moon got up from the bench and paced. She stopped at the wall and looked at one of the murals. She walked along the wall looking as if she were reading the story the pictures portrayed.
Luke went to it. There was an army—it appeared to be Greeks or Romans, and some of the soldiers with long spears were killing giants. There was
also some type of big swirl between the army and other giants. One of the giants on the safe side of the swirl was Shevay.
“That looks like Alexander and his army,” Moon said.
“Alexander?” Luke said.
“Alexander the Great.”
“You don’t know that.”
Moon pointed to the clothing and weapons. “It looks like it.” She placed her hand on the swirl. “This is a portal. The painting shows the Nephilum escaping through it.”
“Wait a minute.” Luke laughed. “You’re saying Alexander’s army chased the Nephilum from my world?”
“I’m not saying it. This painting is. Alexander conquered everything he attempted to conquer. He had the greatest army ever.”
Luke stepped back and took in the whole work of art. It sure looked like Alexander. “When I learned about Alexander in school, I don’t remember the teacher saying anything about any giants.”
“Maybe the giants were already gone from your world, but tried to go back for some reason and ran into Alexander’s army,” Moon said. “Maybe the historians in your world didn’t record it, but the giants here did.”
It made as much sense as anything else in this world. “I reckon they just happened to catch a portal open and clashed with Alexander or someone like him.”
“Perhaps,” Moon said, “or perhaps Shevay opened it.”
Luke ran his hand across the mural. One of Alexander’s soldiers had something in his hand that appeared to be a little, stone animal with a glowing, bright red “X” on it. “What do you think that is?”
“I don’t have a clue,” Moon said.
“It looks like an elephant.” Luke turned to face Moon. “Or a mammoth.”
“Amis. Friends,” Grace said, pointing to another mural on the wall.
Wak’o repeated. “Friends.”
The next morning the guards led the group into a large dining area. There were ten giants seated at a long table, and they watched the group come in. The guards sat the group at the same table. The giants with their elongated heads were intimidating, and Luke studied the room for an escape route. The giants smiled and appeared to welcome them.
Portal to the Forgotten Page 18
