City of Gold (13 page)

He braced for another wallop, but the chief merely grinned. “I pity your proud ignorance. How could you mock our god which is visible, while believing in a power which is not? A mystic orb and an enchanted leather book….”

Cody perked up. “What have you done with the Book!? Return it or I’ll be forced to…
umph!
” Cody choked as a smooth, egg-shaped stone was shoved into his mouth. The rock-nosed chief knelt, grasping one of the hefty stones from the altar.

“Be forced to what? Spout your profane magic? We are well aware of your heathen powers, which is why you and your friend will no longer be permitted to speak.” At his words, three more savages circled the altar and grabbed stones. “I truly pity you …unfortunately, your irreverence is not mine to judge…or to pardon.” In unison the four Garga lifted the boulders in front of their faces. “Great Garganton, ever generous, ever strong. Your mercy great, your judgment sound…”

Cody thrashed against the grip of his capturers but they were too strong. He strained to harness the Orb’s power, but the stone in his mouth restricted his tongue from forming any words.

“We present our thanksgiving, oh Great One, with the sacrifice of this infidel. May his flowing blood be soothing in your mouth.” The four men pushed the boulders above their heads. “Amen.”

Cody winced.

BANG!

29

Summoning the Hound

THE BLOOD-SMEARED BOULDER CRASHED to the ground. The sound was echoed as the lifeless body of a Garga collapsed—a red mark dotting the center of his forehead.

A humming noise buzzed in Cody’s ear.
Thud. Thud.
Cody opened his eyes as two Garga staggered with surprised faces. Embedded into each of their chests was a crescent blade. The zealots crumbled to the earth, their elevated boulders smashing down on them. Gunfire crackled as two more stunned Garga buckled over.

Free from restraint, Cody pulled the stone from his mouth and turned toward Xerx, still bound and flanked by two Garga. “
Dastanda!
”At his command, the zealots’ eyes bulged. Dropping their spears, they grasped their necks. Then both fell to the ground, a mound of sand draining out their mouths.

Cody pulled the stone from Xerx’s mouth and severed the bindings. “What’s going on!? Where’s the attack coming from?” There were two more jarring blasts followed by two loud thumps.

“Cease!” The only remaining Garga, the rock-nosed chief, stood upon the altar with the Book open in his arms. “May the Great Garganton’s wrath fall upon you all!”

Cody held up his hands. “Put the Book down…it’s over.”

The Garga laughed. “Only over for you.” The chief’s eyes fell toward the Book. Cody’s heart skipped as realization finally struck.

Oh, no! “Stop him! He’s going to read from the Book!” The Garga began to mutter. There was a pop of gunfire; the chief’s head whiplashed as he tumbled off the altar, dead. Cody ran toward the body.
We were too late
.

He snatched the fallen Book. “We have to get out of here, now!”

Xerx continued to process the rapid turn of events. “We’re okay…nothing happened when he read the words.”

Cody scanned the sky. “I’m not worried about when he read them…I’m worried about what comes
afterwards
. The last time someone other than the true Book Keeper read those pages it was me—and things didn’t turn out so well.”

A familiar British voice carried across the clearing. “A shame that necessity repeatedly cuts our meetings short, as I always find our conversations so delightful.” Dunstan appeared, striding toward them; smoke still rising from his revolver. Behind him stood the Man with Circular Blades, the towering bearded man from the bedroom encounter, and a cloaked woman with bright, red hair.

Cody shoved his hand in Dunstan’s face. “
Now
you show up!? Why are you following me?”

Dunstan’s face drooped. “Now, now my boy! Your haughty tone chills my heart.” He bared his crooked teeth. “Especially considering I just saved you from certain death!” He holstered his pistol. “After all this time, do you
still
not trust me as a friend?”

Xerx stepped forward. “Cody, who are these men with their Surface-Dweller weapons?”

Dunstan raised his eyebrow in amusement. “Ah-ha, you have Wesley’s defined chin, my lad.”

Cody brushed Xerx off, flustered. “They are CROSS. They…well…it’s complicated.” He redirected his attention to Dunstan. “We don’t have time for games. You told me to find the Caves. You said I’d receive understanding; but all I have are more questions. What does The Prophecy mean? Who was the murdered man in the cave? What does the upside down arrow mean? What…”

“Good golly!”cackled Dunstan. “You and your boundless curiosity. Unfortunately, it’s not my place to give you life’s answers—only to point you in the right direction.”

Just then the ground shook. Xerx grabbed Cody for balance. “What was that?”

Dunstan’s cheery face became deathly serious. “
It’s here
. You must go swiftly. Head east. Two of your companions are there on horseback. You must not linger,” he paused, “the answers you seek reside in Randilin. Only he can provide the knowledge you pursue…now go!”

Cody grasped Xerx’s collar and sprinted across the clearing. Xerx panted. “I don’t understand, what is happening?”

Cody felt a chilling sensation stirring in him. The feeling was horrifyingly familiar. Floating across the glade came a soft, purr-like growl.

“We’ve summoned the hound.”

30

Through the Portal

“DO YOU HEAR THAT?” Tiana whispered, stroking her white stallion’s mane to keep him quiet. Tat pressed his ear against the earth.

“Footsteps—and approaching
fast
.”

Tiana drew her jeweled dagger. “More golden golems? Perhaps they mean to encircle us,” she suggested.

Tat promptly remounted his horse. “Possible, but unlikely. Sounds like just two or three persons on foot, and something else—something…
big.
”

Suddenly Cody and Xerx came billowing around the bend; their arms swinging like crazed pendulums and their faces beet red.

Tiana’s eyes widened in surprise; leaping to her horse, she kicked her heels and darted to meet them. “Cody! What’s going…” she halted mid-sentence. The mammoth frame of the purple-caped Beast skidded around the corner in pursuit.

Tiana lowered herself, hugging tight against her horse’s neck and slammed her heels again, galloping straight toward the three rushing figures. Reaching out her arm, she grasped Cody’s collar and heaved him onto the back of her saddle. Without slowing, she turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

Cody wrapped his arms around Tiana’s waist. “The Hunter is too fast! A horse can’t outrun it, not with two riders!” he hollered.

Tiana pointed to the horizon to where a glowing dome-like essence rested in the distance. “If we can make it there we will be safe.” Cody bit his lip as the Hunter drew closer.
That’s a BIG if
.

The dome continued to grow as they drew nearer, but for every yard they gained, the Hunter gained two. It didn’t take a genius to do the math. “We’re not going to make it!”

“Cody, you need to make a worm hole,” Xerx shouted from the back of Tat’s horse. “The High Language word is Spakious.” The Hunter howled behind them, its hunger propelling it faster the closer it came.

“I don’t know how! You do it. You’re more talented!”

“I
can’t!
It will kill me!
Only
the Book Keeper can do it,” Xerx yelled, his voice raspy. “It’s just like the water well that brought you here. Draw on the Book’s power, visualize the portal’s entrance
and
exit, and then shout the word with all you’ve got!”

Cody strained his eyes at the bubble-like structure ahead. He took a deep breath.
You can do this…you can do this
…

He heard the powerful swoosh of the Hunter’s wings. “For heaven’s sake Cody—NOW!”

“
SPAKIOUS!
”

31

Missing Pieces

Three Days Remaining…

THE SIGHT WAS UTTERLY REPULSIVE. Cody gasped and stared in horror. Randilin’s lips curved into an ugly smile. “Rise and shine—ya’ bloody sluggard.”

Cody perched onto his elbows and rubbed his eyes. He was lying upon a nest-like bed in an otherwise empty room. He felt odd; as though something unusual were flowing through his bloodstream. “What happened? Where am I?” Slowly, visions of their flight came drifting back. “The Hunter! We escaped?”

The dwarf huffed. “
Did you escape?
Do I look like a revolting, savage monster to you?!” Randilin’s grin stretched toward his oversized ears. “Don’t answer that.”

Cody rubbed his forehead. “Then where are we? What happened to you guys at the Caves?”

“As to our location, I’m afraid you are once again a slimy tadpole within my fishbowl. As for the Caves…” Randilin quickly recapped The Company’s battle at the Caves, how Chazic had finally broken through the enemy lines enabling everyone to escape on horseback, and how they led the enemy on a diverted chase to buy time for Tat and Tiana to locate Cody and Xerx. “We arrived here shortly after you,” he finished.

Cody noticed something odd about Randilin’s demeanor. In place of his grumpy, reclusive temperament, he was strangely talkative; stumbling clumsily over his rapidly spewed words. Whenever Cody attempted to interject, he would quickly dive into another elongated monologue.

When Randilin finally paused to inhale, Cody seized the opportunity. “We still haven’t had a chance to talk about earlier…about the Caves and…the bodies.”

The cheerfulness drained from the dwarf like rain off a sharp rooftop. His shoulders sagged and the life in his eyes vanished. “Don’t think me a bad man,” he whispered; wincing, as though each word twisted a dagger deeper into his heart. “I was blind and selfish. Judge me if you want, but one day, boy, when you’ve truly tasted love, you will understand. I’m not a bad man….”

The dwarf’s body shook and the wrinkles on his forehead tightened as though he would explode at any second.

Cody couldn’t bear the dwarf’s pain any longer. “What about that old man in the cave with the Prophecy?” he asked, shifting the subject. “You kept muttering something about
The Thirteenth
. What’s
The Thirteenth
?”

Randilin sighed and his pupils rolled back into his head, his eyes going white. “Not a
what
—a
who
. An extremely
important
who at that: Boc’ro the Wise. The elder of our tribe….”

“The tribe of Atlantis?” Cody probed, but Randilin shook his head impatiently. “No-no-no, don’t be so foolish—
Before
Atlantis.”

“I don’t understand,” Cody admitted.

Randilin snorted. “Of course you don’t. Ya’ ain’t the fastest ship in the fleet, are you? I speak of the mighty Alac-icacs.” Cody stared blankly back, causing Randilin to shake his head once again. “Well, listen closely. I’ll only explain this once.”

“The Alac-icacs were the most powerful tribe, ruling over all the people of the sand. Chief Uscana the Merciless was bloody ruthless in his conquest. Blinded by his desire for land, he recklessly led his tribe into the Uncharted Deserts in pursuit of a new foe. The inhabitants withdrew deeper and deeper into the desert.

“Ignoring all wise counsel, Uscana marched onward, taking the bait until the tribe was lost in the abyss of sand and depleted of all provisions. One-by-one he watched his tribe fall dead to ambush and the violent elements until the once-powerful tribe was all but shattered. When Uscana contracted fatal blood poisoning from a spear wound, he summoned his two sons and pleaded that they not make the same foolish mistakes. With his dying breath he blessed his elder son—Ishmael.

“That very night, an unmapped star appeared in the night sky. The new Chief led the ravaged tribe over the vast wasteland toward the star; seventy-seven long days of death and sickness. When at last they arrived they found nothing but an endless sea of sand and a wild, brewing storm.”

Cody moved forward on his bed to interject. “And, when the storm subsided they found the well!”

“Shush, boy! Are you the ruddy storyteller or am I?”

Cody bit his lip and Randilin continued, “The mysterious well brought the few survivors to Under-Earth. The illustrious Founders: High Chief Ishmael, son of Uscana; Ishmael’s younger brother, whose name is not spoken; Wesley the Faithful; Levenworth, warrior of many victories; Tamarah the Prophetess, of the line of Boc’ro; Naadirah the Beautiful; Sadria the Plain; Shaheena, sister of Tamarah; Kael the Invincible; Evona the Heartless; The Undecided One; and of course—Randilin the Young; at least that’s what they called me back then, when I was but a child and dashingly handsome.”

Cody couldn’t picture Randilin as young or handsome, but didn’t interrupt. “
The Twelve
. That’s what legend calls us. A catchy title…unfortunately, it’s nothing but a bloody lie.”

“You mean…there was another?” Cody asked.

“Aye...one more.
The Thirteenth
, as it were: Boc’ro the Wise—High Priest and counselor of the Alac-icacs. Although I reckon only the seven remaining of The Twelve vaguely remember that name.”

“Why? If he was so important then why was he kept a secret?”

Randilin pointed a stubby finger at him. “
Because
he was so important. Until yesterday I thought him long dead. Disappeared the very night Ishmael and his brother deciphered the High Language. They must have had a good reason for keeping him hidden, although blast it all if I know what it was. Son, I’m afraid there is much more going on than we realize.”

“Cody!” Dace emerged into the room. “You space-traveling lunatic,” he chuckled. “There’s something I want to show you.”

Cody exchanged glances with Randilin before nodding. “What is it?”

Dace grinned. “Something you haven’t seen in long time.”