Délon City: Book Two of the Oz Chronicles (19 page)

As I turned the corner on Peachtree Avenue to Peachtree Lane, a mass of Délons broke off from the horde and turned up the street. A series of grunts and roars filled the blackened air. A familiar chill traveled through my body. I had to fight Chubby to keep moving forward.

Ahead of us, the group of Délons who broke away from the collective, squatted and prepared for an attack. The ground shook, and a sinkhole formed just in front of the Délons. Five Takers emerged from the hole, claws out, snarls across their massive jaws.

The Délons struck without hesitation. They outnumbered the Takers five to one, but each Taker was more than twice the size of a single Délon, so the Takers were able to hold their own. I watched with unexpected delight as Délon after Délon fell.

Chubby stopped about twenty feet away from the action. He nervously shifted his weight from left to right. He fought the urge to turn and run. My attention was divided between the battle in front of us and Chubby’s obvious agitation.

“Whoa, boy, it’s all right. Calm down.”

He whinnied, raised up on his back legs, and came back down. “Keep it together, Chubs!”

He whinnied and jerked up. This time I fell to the concrete

road flat on my back. The fall forced the air out of my lungs. I couldn’t catch my breath. I felt the ground rumble beneath me. A cracking noise faintly made its way into my consciousness. Chubby galloped back down the street, away from the chaos. Just as I was regaining my ability to breathe, the street beneath me gave way and I fell down a massive sinkhole. I heard the Délons squeal and sound out the alarm. A Taker’s clawed hand swooped in and grabbed me by my face and dragged me down a homemade tunnel.

***

I don’t know how long I was dragged. I struggled to free myself from the Taker’s vise-like grip with no success. The tunnel closed in as we passed through so it was impossible for the Délons to follow.

This was it. I was one dead kid. Forget about seeing my fifteenth birthday. The Takers were going to have their revenge. I knew now that the attack of the five Takers was a distraction to get to me. They were going to tear me limb from limb. All I could think of while the slimy Greasywhopper was dragging me through the tunnel was that I’d failed Lou. She was going to die because I allowed myself to get killed.

We reached an opening to the tunnel. I found myself lying on concrete again. The smell of car fumes and gasoline lingered in the air. The Taker let go of me. I surveyed the area and discovered that being dragged by the face gives you a sore neck.

The Taker had brought me to an underground parking garage. I stood on uneasy legs. It towered over me. It snapped its massive jaws and lightly shoved me back. It began to chatter, a noise I had heard too many times in my life. It shoved me again.

“What do you want? Eat me, if you’re going to eat me!” It shoved me again.

“What?”

Frustrated, it gave me a harder shove. I realized then that it

wanted me to turn around. I complied and almost jumped for joy when I saw Wes’s van.

“They’re here! They made it!” I ran to the van, but much to my disappointment, it was empty.

“Where are they?” I turned to interrogate the Taker, but it was gone.

“They’re safe.” The unknown voice bounced off the concrete walls of the parking garage.

“Who’s there?”

“I am Newell.” A Délon like I had never seen before stepped out of the darkness. Its skin was jet black and its eyes were purple. Its spider leg tentacles were hidden underneath a white cloak. “The second Keeper.”

“A good guy, right?” I backed away as it approached me.

“There is no good or bad. There is only that which should be.”

“Okay, then let me put it this way, you’re not going to eat me, kill me, or turn me into something that looks like you, are you?”

He smiled, and I didn’t get the creepy vibe I got from a typical Délon smile. “No. That’s not my plan, but you could do worse than look like me. The ladies really dig this white robe.”

“It’s not the robe I’m worried about.” I slowly felt at ease. “Where are my friends?”

“They are farther underground.”

“I want to see them.

“There’s no time. The Délons are already on their way.” He removed his hood and revealed a thick main of white spider leg tentacles.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked.

“To tell you to get out.” He circled me as he spoke. “This isn’t your fight. This time belongs to my warrior.”

I scratched my head. “Gee, if I remember correctly your warrior was captured by our friends the Takers back there.” I motioned toward a group of the slimy monsters standing in the shadows. “Then when I... when the Délons took over, they kept him under lock and key.”

“It doesn’t concern you.” He raised his voice. “The rules must be observed. And the rules say you are not the warrior for this time, this world! Leave this city!”

“Doesn’t concern me?” It was my turn to raise my voice. “Are you mental? This is my planet, Newell. You freaks are the ones who have to go. I can’t help it if your boy warrior got himself caught. I did my part, and I’ll step up to the plate again.” I was being a little cockier than I normally would have been, but I was tired of the “rules” line.

He breathed deeply, calmed himself, and spoke in much softer tones. “If you interfere, you will disrupt the balance. My warrior must defeat the Délons.”

“How’s he going to do that from prison?” I asked.

“It is a matter of faith, young Oz.” Newell’s spider leg hair bristled, and his insect mandibles made their first appearance as he opened his mouth. They snapped wildly. He was clearly nervous.

“What?”

“The Délons are near,” he said. “You must go from here, from this city. Go back to Tullahoma.”

“What do you think I’ll be going back to? My parents are gone. Everyone is... I have no choice but to fight this fight.”

A total look of exasperation washed over his face. “You will fail, and Lou will die.”

My heart jumped at the mention of Lou’s name. “Do you know how to save her?”

He started to slink back in the darkness. “I must have your word that you will not interfere with this battle. For this promise, I will tell you how to save Lou.”

I thought it over. I shouldn’t have hesitated. It should have been an easy choice for me to make, but it was hard for me to let go of the fight. I wanted the Délons gone, and I wasn’t at all confident that Newell’s warrior was up to the task.

I heard the clatter of Délons approaching. I had to make a decision. “Okay,” I shouted. “Deal!”

“A second sting will save her,” he said. “Either from the same shunter or from a shunter in the same line.” With that he disappeared into the darkness, and a group of Takers stepped forward. They hunched down and growled like rabid dogs. When the Délons arrived, the Takers lunged for me, but the Délons were on them before they could touch me. It was a show. The Takers were completing the ruse that they had kidnapped me to kill me. They were sacrificing themselves to make it look legitimate. They were giving their lives for the greater good. I had not expected that from Takers. I had no idea they were capable of such nobility.

In contrast, I felt like I had sacrificed the world to save Lou. As I made my way back to street level with my Délon escorts, I tried to decide if that was noble or not. Lou herself had told me to do whatever it takes to defeat the Délons, and I caved at the first sign of trouble.

As a Délon met me at the curb holding onto Chubby’s reigns, I decided it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I was going to save Lou’s life. I didn’t care if that was smart or not. There was no way I was ever going to let her die.

I kicked Chubby in the ribs and raced back to the general’s headquarters to save my friend.

FIFTEEN

The general’s huge dining table took up most of the lobby of the condominium. Reya and the Royal Council, five Délons dressed in overly decorated black robes, were seated when Gordy and I arrived. I had the shabbily repaired backpack that housed my now dead shunter draped over my shoulder. The center of the table was crawling with screamers, no serving platters, just thousands of the high-pitched worms wriggling in the middle of the table.

“Dude,” Gordy whispered. “I’m telling you right now if that’s dinner then I’m just going to start puking now to save some time.”

A Taker entered the room carrying a plate of moldy bread and small containers of chocolate pudding.

“So much for filling up on the bread,” I said. “At least there’s pudding.”

“Oh man, I hope that’s pudding,” Gordy said wide-eyed.

We took our seats, and I placed the backpack on the floor next to me. The Royal Council looked uneasy to be sitting at a dinner table with two human guests. My guess is that they were used to the humans being one of the courses.

“The girl,” Reya said. “Where is she?”

“Tired,” I said. “We had a rough trip.”

A member of the Royal Council to my left groaned. “Insolence. She was invited to dine with the general. She should be here.” My blood boiled. “She’s not feeling well.”

The Royal Councilman continued. “Not feeling well... appalling. She should be disciplined.”

“Hey,” I shouted. “Spidey-doo, leave it alone. She’s not here. Deal with it!”

I didn’t have to look at Gordy to know that he was shaking.

The Royal Councilman didn’t respond. He sat still and seethed. He wanted my head on a stick, but he knew the general needed me. He finally faked a smile and said, “A discussion for another time, perhaps.”

It was a small, false victory because as soon as they determined I didn’t have the information they needed, they would kill me. But for the time being, it felt good watching the purple puke back down.

General Roy and Miles entered the lobby. Everyone except Gordy and me stood respectfully. The general took notice, but he let it pass without a word. He motioned for everyone to sit while he stood by his chair. He reached down and scooped up a handful of wriggling screamers. “We welcome our honored guests,” he said and then stuffed the worms in his mouth. The other Délons followed suit.

Gordy and I watched uncomfortably as they chowed down. I heard Gordy belch and cover his mouth. I was sure he was fighting the urge to purge.

The front door to the building opened, and I turned to watch a crab-like creature enter the lobby. It was Canter. I knew it without being introduced.

“Ahh, our good friend, Canter,” General Roy said. “Come, come, join us.”

The creature moved silently and fluidly to our table. He wore the tongue around his neck. He did not say a word, but I could hear him in my head. “Young, Oz. We finally meet.”

I nodded. We had met before, but I wasn’t exactly sure if meeting in a time-shift counted. Maybe he didn’t even remember. I stared at the tongue hanging from his neck.

“Gorilla,” he said. “I tore it from a true freak of nature, a talking gorilla.”

I stood. “Gorilla?”

A cackle sounded off in my head. “A friend of yours?”

I lunged toward him, but Gordy stepped in front of me. “Easy, Oz. Don’t go all cowboy on me.”

“Where is he?” I shouted. “Where’s Ajax?”

The general mumbled with a mouth full of screamers, “Ajax? Ahhh, don’t make me ruin the surprise.”

“Surprise?”

He shook his head. “Yes, tomorrow... instead of the same old tired game of football we’ve scheduled a one-on-one match... There, I’ve said too much. I really don’t want to say any more.” He continued to stuff screamers in his mouth. “I’ve arranged for you and your party to sit with me in my luxury box tomorrow, along with Canter and your parents.”

“My parents?”

“That is what they’re called, isn’t it?” The general asked. “I have such a hard time with the human terminology.”

“They’re here?”

“They are,” he said snapping his fingers. Miles and another Délon escorted my mother out into the lobby. She could barely stand on her own. A purple rash covered half her face. I ran to her. “Mom!” Her eyes were dull and lifeless. She didn’t recognize me. I turned to the general. “The transformation is killing her.”

He smiled. “Yes. Some take to it better than others. There’s really no explanation for it.” He stuffed more screamers in his mouth.

I took my mother’s arm and guided her to a nearby chair. “Don’t worry, mom. Everything is going to be okay.” She shifted her dead gaze to me, slowly lifted her arm, and managed to point a crooked index finger toward the dinner party. “Food,” she said weakly.

I gulped. “Yeah, food.” I turned to Miles and mustered up the strength to say, “Bring my mother some food.” He complied.

“My father,” I said still tending to my mother. “Where is he?”

“Don’t call me that,” said the other Délon who had entered with my mother and Miles.

I turned to the strange Délon. “Pop?”

He snarled.

“Manners, new one,” General Roy said. “The boy is to be your king.”

The Délon who used to be my father heeded the general’s warning and cast me a menacing grin. “My king.”

Meanwhile my mother took a handful of screamers from Miles and shoveled them in her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in a week. I couldn’t watch. I went back to my seat.

Gordy had torn the top off a container of pudding and was sniffing the contents. He dipped a finger in the brown gel and carefully licked it. He sighed. “It’s pudding.”

Canter approached him, beamed a thought into Gordy’s head, and then silently moved around to the general’s end of the table. Gordy eyed him with a look of horror. He sat motionless with a glob of chocolate pudding on the end of his finger.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

Gordy swallowed. “Dude, he just told me I have a beautiful tongue.”

“Oh... well...” I didn’t know what to say, so I decided to leave it at that, an unfinished thought about a disturbing compliment from a half-man, half-crab thingy. Man, my life was getting really weird.

The chatter around the table picked up. The Délons were talking amongst themselves. They paid less and less attention to Gordy and me as the night went on. They filled their bellies with screamers and drank what smelled like rotten milk. I managed to eat one small container of pudding, while Gordy ate five before he started complaining of a stomachache. Time was ticking, and Lou’s chances of survival were getting slimmer by the minute.