Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta (13 page)

Gabriel opened his eyes and sat up. There was no sign of Empress Malina; just a few flickering embers in the dying fire. He stayed awake for a while, listening to the others sleep, and pondering all the things the empress had said to him in his dream. But soon his yawns took over, and he fell fast asleep.

Chapter Sixteen

Gabriel slept without any more dreams, until strange sounds of wild animals jolted him awake. The growling and snapping of teeth echoed throughout the house. Gabriel shook the others. “Guys, wake up!”

Brent, Piper, and Cedric stumbled into furniture as they hurried to look out the windows. The fizzled-out fire obviously left the room eerily dark. But for Gabriel, the room lit up under his powerful vision. They all peered through different windows. Fluorescent green eyes glared back at them. Piper screamed and Cedric jumped back.

“Gruocks!” yelled Cedric.

Piper slapped her hand against her mouth. “Not again,” she moaned through the slats of her fingers.

Gabriel peered out the window, searching the moonlit canopy of trees dripping rain over the forest floor. A thick, foggy mist shrouded the land. “I see three of them.”

A gruock leapt from under Gabriel’s windowsill, smashing itself against the window with a loud
crack
! A fracture shot through the glass, as quick and devastating as a lightning bolt.

Gabriel shrieked and jumped back. The gruocks disappeared from the window, but their threatening howls and violent roars rang in his ears as they circled the house. “What’re we gonna do now?” Cedric shouted, his hands covering his ears.

Piper paced in circles. “It must be nearly sunrise. Make it stop, make it stop.”

Gabriel stayed back from the window, but he could still see the gruocks outside. One leapt toward the damaged window.

As Gabriel braced himself for the impact of shattering glass, Jasra charged the beasts. With a thrust of his huge antlers, he hurled one into the air. The other gruocks surrounded him. Jasra scowled and kicked backward with his huge hooves, knocking the remaining monsters through the air.

After each kick, the gruocks jumped back up and charged again. They encircled Jasra, just as the sun began to rise over the top of the mountain.

The creatures’ roars faded to tortured whimpers as they backed away, into the shadows of the trees. The luminous green faded from their eyes. Tears streamed down the face of one creature as it transformed back into a teenage girl. A flash of pity washed over Gabriel. Knowing they were such evil creatures at night, but then didn’t even know who they were come daylight made his stomach twist. They crept away into the morning mist. Jasra entered the room and Piper ran to him, clasping her arms around his long, hairy, moose leg. “You saved us!” Piper hugged him tighter. “But are you all right?”

“Yeah, you weren’t bitten, were you?” Gabriel asked, worried.

“No.” Jasra sank to the floor. “But I am tired. The sun came up before they could overtake me.”

“I saw one crying as it transformed. It was a girl.” Gabriel shook his head, feeling overwhelmed and confused.

“Don’t let your kindness be your weakness, Gabriel. They will not hesitate to kill you. I struggled with that for a while, too. There is no cure for the infected. They’ll spread their disease to us all, if Malgor has his wish.”

“It’s just so sad … ” Gabriel’s voice trailed off.

“Can we make you something to eat, Jasra?” Piper asked, changing the topic.

“Yes, please, Piper,” he answered. “I’d like to rest a few moments. There is some bread and ham in the cold box there, if you like.”

Piper did her best to make breakfast for everyone. They ate in silence as the heaviness of the whole crazy situation hung in the air.

After breakfast, Jasra wished them well as they left for the Valley of Shadows to find the key-maker. Following the map, it took them about two hours to get there. They maneuvered down a long, steep, and winding road. The farther they walked, the more the hills loomed over them. Soon, a deep valley surrounded by tall hills encircled them. It was morgue-still, and only the caws of distant crows echoed around them.

“It’s so creepy here,” Piper said as they hurried along the path. “Where’s the key-maker’s house?”

“It can’t be too much farther,” Gabriel answered.

“Dude!” Brent’s eyed bugged out. He pointed to the right. “Look over there.”

A huge, black shadow, a mass of nothing in particular, moved along the distant hillside. They stopped to watch in amazement, and the shadow stopped moving, as well. When they started moving again, so did the shadow.

“Is it me, or is that shadow following us?” Piper asked.

Cedric rolled his eyes. “How could a shadow be following us, genius?”

“Sure looks that way.” They stopped and watched as the shadows danced in circles and moved in front of them. Then the shadows changed shape.

“Hey, look,” Piper said. “Princess Evangeline! She’s having a birthday party.”

“What are you talking about?” Brent arched a brow. “That’s Flossie. She’s brought us something to eat.”

Strange,
thought Gabriel. But then he saw his mother skipping in circles, motioning for him to play “ring around the rosie” like she had when he was a little kid. They walked toward the shadows, smiling. As they got closer, Gabriel noticed his mother looked different, somehow.

Beware of the shadows, Gabriel.

He stopped and pinched his eyes shut. When he reopened them, the dark clouds spun around as they really were; not his mother, just growing shadows.

“Wait!” he yelled. “Don’t look!”

But the others continued toward the shadows, hypnotized by what they saw. Gabriel rushed in front of them to block their path. He grabbed Piper by the shoulders and shook her.

“Piper, it’s not real. Snap out of it!” When she didn’t respond, he slapped her cheek.

The sting pulled Piper out of the shadow’s wicked trance. She blinked past his shoulder, and frowned. “Wow, it’s just some stupid shadows.” She rubbed her eyes, and shook her head. “Thanks, Gabe.”

Cedric was the closest to them, so Gabriel held him while Piper put her hands over his eyes, freeing Cedric from his trance. But Brent had walked on ahead, delirious with laughter.

“Hey there, Eric. Hi, Flossie. That bread looks delicious.”

The nearest shadow crept up Brent’s leg, emitting loud, horrifying groans. It yanked Brent’s ankle, dragging him up until he dangled upside down, suspended in mid-air.

Brent gasped, his face turning pale. “It’s not Flossie—help!”

He shook his foot and stretched his arms, fingers dusting the ground. He tried to break free of its biting grasp, but it crept stealthily up his leg, spreading and yanking him higher into the air.

Gabriel reached up and grabbed Brent’s arm. Instantly, a tongue leapt out of the shadow, slashing Gabriel’s arm like a whip coated in burning acid.

“Ahh!” Gabriel screamed in pain as he fell back onto the ground, gaping at the blisters on his arm and gasping for air.

Piper ran to help Brent, but the sinister shadow turned into an enormous mouth. In one swift move, it swallowed Brent whole. Then the shadow vanished, taking Brent with it.

Chapter Seventeen

“Brent!” Piper stared at where he’d been a second ago. “Oh, no. No, no, no.” Tears streamed down her face.

“I almost had him, did you see?” Gabriel asked, running around in a panic, looking for any sign of him. “And my arm.” Gabriel covered it with his uninjured one, and winced.

“Here.” Piper helped him rip off a piece of his shirt, left hanging from the attack. Gabriel used it to wrap the wound. “This’ll have to do.”

“You shouldn’t have gone near it,” snapped Cedric. “What were you thinking, Gabe?”

“News flash—I was thinking that maybe I could help a friend. But I guess you wouldn’t understand such a foreign concept.”

“You think I wanted Brent to get dragged off by that shadow thing with a mouth?” When Piper and Gabriel just stared back, Cedric huffed. “Well I didn’t.”

“Then stop acting like such a jerk for one minute, will you?” Piper said, pacing and pressing her fisted hand to her mouth. “We have to get Brent back.” Piper twisted around, turning her glare on Cedric. “Those shadows showed each of us what we
wanted
to see. What did
you
see, Cedric?”

“Whhh—aat?” Cedric’s face turned deep red.

“You heard her. What did you see?” Gabriel glowered at Cedric.

“You wanna know what I saw? I saw Mr. Roswell giving me an A on my project ‘cause I’d found more of that stupid crystal you carry around on your neck!”

“I knew you were after my crystal, you little freak.” Gabriel bolted straight for Cedric. “You’re toast. I’m going to kill you, and I’m not even lying!”

“Gabe, stop! That’s how we got here, remember?” Piper yelled after him.

Gabriel inhaled slowly, and managed to stop himself from punching Cedric square in the jaw. He stared up at the sky, his hands shaking. He had to keep it together. Dealing with Cedric would be nothing compared to dealing with the key-maker.

But he was still happy when Piper walked up to Cedric and slapped him across the face.

“Owwwww! Whatchu do that for?” Cedric rubbed his cheek.

“That’s for being such a royal jerk,” Piper responded.

Gabriel looked from Piper to Cedric. “I’m sorry, I should’ve realized. Empress Malina warned me … about the shadows.”

“Let’s just focus on getting Brent back and finding the key-maker.” Piper patted Gabriel’s back and gently pushed him forward along the path. Piper and Cedric fell into step behind him. From time to time, they caught glimpses of the black beckoning shadows, but they refused to look at them, and stared straight ahead.

Soon, Gabriel pointed to a dark opening in the hill ahead. On either side stood two gigantic boulders, colorful words painted on one.

As they walked toward its opening, Gabriel could see into the empty, pitch black cave. They read the words written on the second boulder:

Be warned:

I do not wish to be disturbed.

If you enter, I will be perturbed.

Only the bravest dare take up my time.

To others, I warn, your death will be divine.

Gabriel swallowed hard. “Just great,” he said, stepping closer to the mouth of the cave. Even though he could see inside, he decided to hang back and call out first. After reading the bold warning painted on the rock, he wasn’t sure what or who to expect. “Hello?” The sound of his voice echoed back to him, mixed in with the thumping of his heart. “Is anybody there?”

Cedric slumped to the ground and dropped his head in his hands. “Don’t tell me we came all this way for nothing.”

Gabriel ignored him, and walked deeper into the cave. “We’re looking for the key-maker?”

From the cave’s shadows, a huge, broad-shouldered man charged toward them. He stood about eight feet tall and almost as round, with scraggily, bright red hair, and a full beard that streamed down his chest. His eyebrows were enormously overgrown. He smelled like he hadn’t showered—ever.

“Who dares bother Sherpa?” the giant boomed. He towered over Gabriel, eyeing him up and down. “A mere boy? Did you not read the sign, fool?” He looked toward the cave entrance at Piper and Cedric peeking in. As Piper took a step forward, the giant pounded his massive foot into the dirt, sending a shockwave through the ground.

“Take one more step and it shall be your last,” he warned.

“Stay back,” Gabriel yelled over his shoulder. “I’ll be okay.”

“What makes you so sure?” The giant poked his filthy finger into Gabriel’s chest, knocking him down as if he were a feather.

Gabriel stood again and squared his shoulders.
I must be brain-dead.
“I came for the Key-maker.”

“You’ve found me, but I do not make keys for children.” The giant snickered.

“I am Gabriel, sir, and the empress sent me.”

Boisterous laughter filled the cave until Gabriel had to cover his ears.

“What’s so funny?”

“You expect me to believe the empress has sent a boy—to me? You are even madder than I thought. Go away, out of my sight, before I lose my patience.” The giant walked back into the blackness of the cave.

“Please,” Gabriel yelled. “I’m telling the truth. I’ve been to Shataundra, and I saw the empress herself … and Prince Oliver. He was in a coma or something because of Duke Malgor. I need a key to help him … a key to the Tandem Wood.”

The giant turned, red-faced, toward Gabriel. “You will get your wish. But only if you pass my challenge. Let’s see how brave you are then.”

Gabriel trembled. “I’ll do whatever you say.” He followed him deeper into the cave, dry leaves crackling beneath their feet.

Sherpa stooped in the darkness, picked up a lantern, and lit it. They walked deeper into the recesses of the dismal cave, the lantern lighting their way. When they stopped, Gabriel saw three different paths: one to the left, another straight ahead, and a third to the right.

“The key to the Tandem Wood is at the end of the third path.” Sherpa pointed down the path to the right. “But in order to get it, you must retrieve a key from the end of the second path. That key will open the chest, wherein lies the key to the Tandem Wood.” He stroked his beard. “However, the key at the end of the second path requires a different key, found at the end of the first path. Are you brave enough to enter, Gabriel who is sent from the empress?” He laughed mockingly.

Gabriel nodded and moved toward the first path. As he entered the tunnel, his vision lit up the darkness to reveal a winding, narrow path. Cobwebs covered every surface, like weeds in an overgrown garden. They streamed across his face as he walked. He slid his hands along the rough edges of the cave.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. It’s like I ended up in one of those horror movies—but this one is real. His breaths came out raspy; the cramped quarters making him feel claustrophobic.
He squeezed around a tiny bend in the path. Dark eyes stared up at him, and squeaking sounds echoed off the tunnel walls.

“Rats!” He shook his leg to shoo them away. At the end of the tunnel, there was nothing but a cave wall. He searched for the key among the rocky crevices without any luck, then banged on the wall in frustration. “Where’s the key?”