The Takers: Book One of the Oz Chronicles (23 page)

"This is the only way?" I asked Ajax.

"As it is written." He said.

My head began to ache again. It was too much. How could I possibly work up the courage to do what was written? I turned the page and was horrified to find the words "End of Book One," written in big bold letters.

"Wait a minute… Wait a minute, this doesn't tell me if I kill the Queen or not."

Tarek smiled. "The outcome is uncertain. You must not pursue it. Let it end here."

"The outcome has never been certain," Ajax said. "Only predicted."

I looked up at Ajax still perched on top of the boulder. "Why do they want me?"

Tarek chimed in before Ajax could answer. "You can destroy them."

"Me? I'm just a kid."

"The one called Stevie Dayton has written it this way," Ajax said. "You are the warrior. The one they fear. The Storytellers can give them life, but you can take it away."

"I don't understand why he wrote it this way," I said in frustration. "I was mean to him. I made fun of him… made him do things…"

"He saw the magic in you," Tarek said.

The words hung in the air. It was what Lou had said her grandmother used to say. Look for the magic in people. As long as I knew Stevie, I always thought he was dumb, that I was better than he was because I had a superior command of the English language, or because I was more athletic, or because I looked normal and he didn't. But the truth is, I didn't look hard enough at Stevie. I didn't try to see what he was really all about. He was a sweet kid that loved to tell stories about fantastic worlds where the good guys always won. I didn't look for the magic in him.

I looked at Tarek. "Show me the way to the Taker Queen."

***

Everyone who was left had gathered around gorilla habitat number three. They assumed we had come together for a celebration. We had beaten the Takers. We deserved a little slap on the back, but I had really brought them together to say goodbye.

I stood in silence in front of them with Nate's sling around my shoulder. They were all truly heroic, but I couldn't think of the proper words to convey my real feelings. I had no idea what waited for me when Tarek showed me the way to the Taker Queen. The chances were that I wouldn't succeed. The Takers were waiting for me after all. And if I did succeed, Tarek may be right; the Délons would become a bigger problem. I sighed and spoke very softly. "Nobody will ever know what we did here today. Nobody's going to give us medals. They aren't going to throw us a parade. Nobody will ever read about this in the history books. You didn't fight for the glory. You fought because it was the right thing to do…"

"No, we didn't, kid," Pepper said. "We fought for you."

I looked at him stunned by his assertion. The others nodded.

"Warriors win battles. Leaders win wars. We won this battle so you could win the war." He stepped forward and shook my hand. "It ain't over yet. We all know that. You do what you have to do. We're your army. We wait for your command."

I swallowed hard and looked past him into the faces of all the others. They smiled and nodded in agreement. "I might be doing the wrong thing," I said.

"Yeah," Pepper said. "But you might be doing the right thing, too."

I stepped back, gave them all one last smile and turned to Tarek. "I'm ready."

"I don't want to do this," Tarek said.

"I asked. It is written you must show me the way."

"Very well," he said annoyed. "But it will not be a pleasant journey."

"I know." I stepped toward him, but stopped when I heard a high-pitched whine to my left. I turned to see Kimball, ears down, paw up. I knelt down beside him and rubbed his head. "You can't go, boy." He whined louder. "I wish you could. You've been with me the whole way." He licked my face. "You've got a bunch of puppies to take care of, and I've got to get Mom and Pop back." I stood and looked at Tarek. "Ready."

With that, Tarek picked me up in his gigantic hand and lifted me to his mouth. His jaws unhinged as he shoved me past his slimy tongue and down his throat. I started to suffocate as I was pushed through his narrow gullet. I couldn't breathe. I was caked in mucus. I gasped for air, but there was none to be had. I started to kick and flay about. I had made a mistake. I was dying. The Keeper wasn't transporting me, he was eating me. This was Stevie's revenge. I would rot in the belly of a monster he created.

As I struggled one last time, I felt the constricted passageway expand. I felt a breeze. Air! I breathed in, choking on mucus, but still feeling the sensation of breathing again. There was darkness all around me as I felt the sensation of falling. I landed with a thud on a brittle, charred surface. I lay on the ground, coughing and spitting up fluid from my lungs.

I rolled over on my hands and knees. My lungs cleared, I breathed deeply and attempted to take in my surroundings. My eyes slowly began to adjust, and the darkness gave way to an increasing influx of light. I stood, Nate's sling still around my shoulder.

Shapes started to form in front of me. Hundreds… thousands of trees surrounded me. More light. They weren't trees. They were Takers. They were lined up as far as the eye could see, all of them peering at me, slobbering, seething. They wanted to tear me apart, but they didn't. They kept their distance, laying out a path for me to follow.

I slowly walked along the twisting lane, my eyes shifting from the pathway to the Takers that outlined it. They breathed heavily and flashed their teeth as I passed. They wanted to smash me, but something held them back. It was clear to me now. I was about to die.

Ahead, the path widened. The Takers diverted their gaze from me to the direction in which I was walking. I rounded a sharp corner and caught a glimpse at what held their interest. Sitting on a mound of burnt dirt was the biggest Taker I had ever seen. If it were standing, it would probably be thirty feet high, and it looked to be as big around as it was tall. Chubby legs gushed out from under its oversized belly. It was the Queen.

I held tight to Nate's sling. The Takers sniffed the air as I passed. The scent of a Storyteller was nearby. It was giving them fits.

Ten yards from the Taker Queen, I saw Lou standing by the massive creature's side. "Lou."

"Oz," she smiled. "I knew you'd come."

I looked at the Queen. "Where's Wes?"

The Taker Queen groaned and motioned to a Taker to my left. The Taker stepped forward. I backed away, guarded and unsure. The creature's teeth began to chatter. It convulsed wildly and fell to its hands and knees. Its mouth opened and its entire body began to contract and expand. I watched in horror as it regurgitated a large slimy pink mass. A hand extended out of the blob. It was Wes. I ran over and pulled him free of the plump ball of goo.

Wes spat and snorted. "Good goose crap almighty. That is 'bout the foulest experience of my whole life." He stood and wiped the pink slime from his face. He froze when he saw the legion of Takers. "What in tarnation? Where are we?"

"Almost home," I said. I turned to the Taker Queen. "Now what?"

"You have to give huh the sto-weetella."

Stepping out from behind a group of Takers to my right was Stevie Spangler.

"Stevie?"

"She can't take it."

"You know this guy?" Wes asked.

"Yeah, I do." I walked over to Stevie. "What are you doing here?"

"They need me to talk," Stevie said. "I'm da only one who undastands."

I nodded. "What do you mean by 'she can't take it'?"

"She can't take it. It has to be given to huh." He leaned in close. "I want to go home."

"So do I," I said. "So do I." I turned to the Queen. "You can have him."

Lou stomped her feet. "Oz, what are you doing?"

The massive beast reached for Nate's sling. I backed away. The Taker Queen roared her displeasure.

"Not so fast," I said. "Send my friends back."

"Don't do it, Oz," Wes said. "You can't let them have Nate."

"I got it under control, Wes." I looked up at the Taker Queen. "Wes, Lou, and Stevie back to my world, now!"

The Queen nodded. Three Takers broke from the group and rounded up Wes, Lou, and Stevie. Lou kicked her Taker. Wes struggled briefly but quickly gave in. Stevie went willingly. They began to march back up the path.

"Wait a minute," I said.

They stopped.

"Lou, what's your real name?"

She turned to me, tears in her eyes. "Emily," she said. "Emily Bristol."

"We'll see you around, Emily Bristol."

The Takers continued to escort them up the path. I turned back to the Queen. "How will I know you've really taken them back?"

The Taker Queen picked me up. Her hand covered me from neck to toe. She held me to her eye. The image of the zoo appeared in her black eyes. I saw Ajax sitting with Pepper and Hollis. They were a somber bunch. Suddenly their mood brightened. Wes, Lou, and Stevie walked into the scene. There were hugs all around. The Taker Queen held me out and reached over with its other hand. She was asking for me to give her Nate.

I shook my head. "He's not going alone. Take both of us."

The Taker Queen groaned and roared. She did not like this arrangement. She tried to coax Nate from me again, but I refused again. The greasy monster opened its mouth and shoved me inside with Nate's sling around my neck. I had a sudden sense of dèjàvu.

I quickly moved into action once I was inside the monster's mouth. I didn't think I would be able to do what needed to be done once the Taker Queen started to swallow me. I flopped onto my back on the beast's slippery tongue and pulled Pepper's homemade flamethrower from it. It was wrapped in baby's clothes to make it smell like Nate. I fumbled with the lighting mechanism and tried to activate it once, twice, and a third time. It wouldn't work. As the monster's mouth closed, I tried it a fourth time and was almost giddy when I saw a small blue flame pop out from the end of the nozzle. I felt the sensation of being forced into the Taker Queen's throat. I pulled the trigger on the flamethrower's nozzle. Flames filled the beast's gullet. She lifted her head and thrashed it back and forth. I bounced about like a rubber ball in a small room. I pulled the trigger again and aimed it down the Taker Queen's craw. I reached back in Nate's sling and pulled out a hunting knife. As I shot flames to and fro, I jammed the knife into the roof of the monster's mouth. This time she let out a bloodcurdling scream that caused her to open her mouth. As her head whipped about, I could see the Takers on the ground below in a panic over their Queen's distress. This emboldened me. I jammed the knife upward again, driving it into the roof of the mouth and making a deep hole. I rammed the nozzle of the flamethrower into the oozing hole and pulled the trigger.

The Taker Queen screeched. She tried to stand on her chubby legs, but her weight was too much for the underused appendages to take. She tumbled over and fell face first into the blackened soil. I crawled from her mouth, knife in one hand, the flamethrower in the other. The other Takers converged on me. I held them at bay with the flamethrower. I had to deliver the fatal blow to the Queen. If I didn't she would survive and continue her hunt for Nate and the other Storytellers. She was wounded, but not fatally. She screamed again. The other Takers hesitated at the sound of their Queen in pain. I took the opportunity to quickly climb on top of the Queen's head. I had one last surprise in Nate's sling, a string of M-98s.

Below the monster's ear, I rammed the knife deeply. The mighty beast twitched and struggled to push herself up, but her great weight kept her immobilized.

I grabbed the M-98s and shoved them into the hole. It was gushing a greasy deposit. With the flamethrower, I lit the single fuse and jumped from the monster's head. I heard them go off. Bang! Bang! Bang! I put my hands over my head, closed my eyes tightly, and waited for the other Takers to pounce on me and tear me apart. I waited, and I waited, and I waited.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head. A bright light blinded me. I shielded my eyes from the intensity of it. I rolled on my back. The hard ground had turned soft.

"Osmond, what are you doing?"

The voice. I couldn't believe my ears. The light began to dim. I wasn't on the charred ground of the Taker's lair. I was in my room in Tullahoma.

"Osmond, get out of bed."

I sat up. I was in my pajamas lying in my bed. "Mom?"

The figure of my mother stepped into view. She was beautiful, more beautiful than I remember ever seeing her. Her short red hair was held back with a black hair clip. Her face was perfectly pale and Irish. It was really my mother. I sprung from my bed and ran to her as fast as I could.

"Mom!" I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tight.

"What has gotten into you, Osmond Franklin Griffin?"

I started crying. I couldn't help myself. I was back home. I was in my bedroom. I was hugging my mom. This was the greatest day in the history of the planet.

She bent down and lifted my chin up with her finger. "Hey, hey, hey, what's this?"

"You're alive." It's all I could manage to say before I choked on a gush of emotion.

She hugged me. "Of course, I am, sweetie. What's wrong with you? Did you have a bad dream?"

I sniffed and pulled myself away. I was beginning to feel embarrassed. I didn't know what was going on. Maybe it all was just a dream. I nodded not knowing what else to do.

"Well, don't you worry about it. Everything's going to be all right. Except that you're late for school…"

"School? But I can't go to school, I'm sick."

"Sick?" She felt my forehead. "Honey, don't you feel well?"

"Mom, I've got mono, remember?"

"Mono?" She raised an eyebrow. "Oz, what are you talking about?"

I stood there dumbfounded. Had I dreamt of having mono, too? "Nothing."

She lightly slapped me on the butt as she stood. "Good, now get dressed. If you're sick and can't make it to school today, I'm afraid you won't be able to make it to the Titans game this weekend."

My ears perked up. "The Titans?"

"Yep, your Pop got tickets last night."

"Alright!" I shouted.

"The games at 1:00." She moved to the door to my room and smiled. "In Délon City." With that she walked out of the room and pulled the door shut behind her.