The Gift of Knowledge (The Gifts Book 2) (19 page)

     Ethan was in foreign territory. He’d never felt this way about anyone before. Having strong, protective instincts for those people he was responsible for was nothing new. No one could accuse him of not caring for others, but this was something more.

     “Dang it! I can’t go there right now.”
Great, now I’m talking to myself out loud.

    “
What’s that? Did you say something, Ethan?” Phoebe spoke up from behind a shelf of maps and papers.

     “Oh, uh, no it’s nothing.” He grabbed his coffee, tucked the notes in his pockets and left the tent. A walk would clear his head. Afterwards, if he couldn’t concentrate without Emily at his side he’d have her go over the notes with him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized it would do no good to send Emily away. It was too late for that. She was now a part of his life that he couldn’t function without. God help them both, because he had no idea where this situation would leave them when this venture was over.

     After walking the perimeter of the camp a few times, Ethan went into the mess tent where he talked to Mari and Anke a bit about supplies. Then, when he could stand it no more, he grabbed a fresh cup of coffee and headed to Emily’s tent.

     Knocking on the tent frame elicited no response, and with no choice left, he lifted the flap and let himself in.

     “Emily, I really hope you’re decent, ‘cause I need your help and I’m coming in. I did bring coffee.” He swirled the hot cup of coffee around to spread the aroma and hopefully entice her from sleep.

     “Alright, alright, I’m awake. Did you bring food? I’m starving.” A voice called out from under the insect netting around a cot in a dark corner.

     “No, but I can get you some. Let’s say you drink your coffee and meet me in the mess tent in about fifteen minutes, OK?” Ethan sat the cup of coffee on a small table and headed for the door.  “Emily, you coming?”

     “YES! I heard you, the mess tent in fifteen minutes. I’ll be there. Now get out!” A pillow hit Ethan in the back, as he stepped out into the sun. He laughed to himself and tossed the pillow back into the tent. He’d have to remember what a grouch Emily was when she first got up.

     Food, Emily was hungry. Ethan’s plans to go over the notes would have to wait until after she’d eaten. He could take a plate of food into the work tent for her, but with Phoebe there they wouldn’t be able to talk openly. He didn’t quite understand the whole secrecy thing, but he did trust Emily’s instincts. If she felt it wasn’t yet time to reveal certain things to the rest of the team than he would abide by her wishes. Emily needed food, and they both needed a private place to talk.
Hmmm…
There could be only one solution to both problems. A picnic.

     Exactly fifteen minutes later Emily made her way into the mess tent. Ethan and Mari were packing a knapsack with food and thermoses of coffee and water. At the look of confusion on her face, Ethan explained.

     “I thought we could take a little hike up to the waterfall for a picnic. Get out and stretch our legs a bit and talk.”

     His last words were not lost on Emily. She realized they still had much to share about the journal pages, and she still needed to tell him the story of the lost giant kings. A private picnic seemed the perfect solution.

     “OK, that sounds great. How can I help?”

     For a day and a night the rain poured on the forest. Now, the sun beat down creating a steamy, humid environment. The rainforest became a living, breathing sauna. Emily was grateful they were not hiking far from camp. Within minutes of leaving the mess tent, Ethan led the way into a small clearing at the top of the waterfall. Here, next to the quickly flowing river, a cool breeze made the hot, humid air a little more breathable.

     The two of them quickly set up a small table with two folding chairs on each side. Mari had packed a feast of cheese and bread with fruit and nuts. Emily devoured her portion and then some of Ethan’s without the slightest hint of shyness. At his quizzical look she shrugged. “What? I’m hungry. You kept me up all night translating then woke me from a dead sleep, and in all these hours you never once fed me, you slave driver.”

     Both of them laughed, and Ethan handed over the rest of his fruit. After Emily ate every last morsel, Ethan pulled out the notes from his pocket.  

     “Let’s get down to business. I thought we could read your translations together and put the missing pieces in place with what we already know.”

     Emily carefully spread her notes on the small table and began to read them out loud, as the words of Juan Martinez de Soledad again came to life….

    
The giant appeared to be a strange creature, but if one looked closely into his eyes, you could see this creature was intelligent. He watched us all very closely and seemed more curious than afraid. The capitan and his men encircled the creature and taunted him with spears and swords. The giant closed his eyes and appeared to be doing no more than listening to the words being hurled at him.

     One of the men threw his spear and it stuck in the sand at the giant’s feet. The giant laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made the very ground beneath us shake. He grabbed up the spear and began to spin in circles, going faster and faster until a cloud of sand concealed him. The cloud became a sandstorm and soon enveloped the capitan and his men. They were thrown into the air and then down onto the ground. When all the men lay sprawled on the ground, the giant stopped spinning and came to a halt. The air became still as the sand settled.

     “Come now, my friends. Let us not battle on this day. I am called Ari The Small, for among my clan I am the smallest. As it is, I am most happy to see you. I am not only the smallest of my clan I am the last. And one gets so lonely, you see.”

      I could not believe my eyes or my ears. This giant, so different from us, so fierce looking, could speak in the perfect Espanol` tongue.

     The capitan, his men, and I would spend the next several days in the company of Ari The Small. He would teach us the strange plants of this land and their various uses. He led us to fresh water pools and showed us good places to hunt for food.

     One afternoon I found myself alone with Ari, and as my curiosity became more than my fear of this great giant, I attempted to speak with him.

     Ari had lived for hundreds of years and traveled through many continents before his clan settled here in what would be the South Americas. He’d even spent time with what he called the Espanoles` or ancestors of Spain. He only had to listen to a few words of our native tongue to recall it.

     This giant among men told of his many brothers and how they came to live amongst a tribe of natives here on the far side of this continent. He and his brothers enslaved the people and lived as gods and kings in cities they built on the tallest mountains. His brothers constantly abused Ari because he was one of the smallest in their clan, until one day he was banished from the clan. His crime was voicing his displeasure at his low station. Since that day he lived in the jungle alone, wondering about as a nomad.

     It was not many days later that our capitan became restless and bored with our new friend and began to ask about gold and other precious minerals he’d been commissioned to find for our king. Ari told the capitan he knew where to find gold, but it laid many days travel into the forbidding jungle. Ari informed the capitan that he could not guarantee the safety of the men so deep in the jungle.

   The capitan insisted that the giant take a group of us with supplies to find the gold. A feeling of dread overcame me, but as I was ordered with twenty other men to follow the giant and take account of directions for others to follow, I went.

     It was a decision I will forever regret. Mi Dios! God help us all.

     Emily stopped reading and took a breath. Ethan had been silently standing by her side listening intently, but now something else held his attention. Emily followed his gaze across the river to see a lone figure staring across the way. The man was disheveled and had a crazy look in his eyes. There was no mistaking him. This man had to be
Lazar.

Chapter Seventeen

Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1:79

     “Carmine, wait!” Ethan shouted as the man ran back into the forest. “Wait, where are you going to go? What do you want?” It was no use. The man was gone as quickly as he appeared.

     “Run, Emily, we’ve got to get back to the camp.” Ethan grabbed Emily’s hand, as they left the remains of their picnic and ran down the trail back to the campsite.

     Ethan sounded the alarm while he radioed Gary and Russ to head back to camp quickly, and to be on the lookout for Lazar. He gathered Anke and others to organize a patrol for guarding the perimeter of the campsite. When Gary and Russ arrived they teamed up with Ethan and went in search of Lazar. Before they left, Ethan warned Emily to stay inside the camp with Phoebe. He’d held her close as he said it and promised to return safely.

     Emily didn’t argue. She needed to pray. With that crazy look on Lazar’s face he could be a threat to anyone who crossed paths with him. When she first met Lazar, as he stood on her front porch at Perry House, it was clear an evil entity drove him, and now it looked worse.  

     The notes she’d been reading were still in her hands, as she made her way to her tent. She locked them in her footlocker and began to pray for everyone’s safety, including Lazar’s.

***

     At that moment, Lazar hid himself high up in a tree. At last he had Ethan’s exact location. He laughed to himself when he heard Ethan and his men calling. He just had to wait for his simple plan to unfold. He would follow Ethan and his team to the burial site of the lost giant kings, and then take what he needed from them. Then he could live forever in the dream world with Ariella. She’d promised him. Even now she whispered to him in that singsong voice she used to mesmerize him. Surely, it was only a matter of time until he could be free of this nightmare of living in the real world.

***

     Liam and his legion watched over Ethan and his men from the skies. With Lazar so close they were able to easily converse with Simon and Matthew. Lazar wasn’t letting go of the demon Armodius. It would be easy enough to take the man out, but as long as he posed no immediate threat to Liam’s charges, there was hope Simon and Matthew could convince him to turn himself over to the Lord. Until then, they would watch and wait upon the Lord.

***

     Marta woke to the first strands of sunlight peeking through her bedroom window. She’d been lost in an intense dream where Emily was lost in a dark forest. Lord, how she wished Emily would come home. After praying for Emily and her own family, she showered and dressed for her regular check up with the doctor. She was feeling great, so the visit should be short. But today memories of her first pregnancy with Amy when she believed her loving husband to be dead intruded. A shiver ran down her spine. Thanking the Lord for having Bradley in her life again was an everyday occurrence. She would never cease to sing the Lord’s praises for bringing her love back to her alive.

       An incoming text brought Marta back to the present and announced a car waited for her in front of the high-rise apartment building.

       “Hey, honey, the car’s here. I’m gonna run. You’ll get Amy ready for her play date for me, right?

     “Yes, darling. Be sure to call and let me know how things go with the doctor.” Bradley yelled from the shower.

     “Of course I’ll call you, but I’m sure everything is fine. I’m feeling so good nothing could possibly be wrong. You worry too much. I’m going now. Love you.

     Bradley yelled out something of an ascent, as Marta looked in on her still sleeping daughter then made her way out of the penthouse.

    Dicydius lay in wait on the roof of the Steel’s building. Determination fueled his goal to strike this woman down. The fate of his empire depended on it. A week of scouring the streets of Manhattan provided him with a depraved group of demons willing to join him on this quest. He would not be asking the Ba al’ for reinforcements, not since he’d lost his last battalion in defeat at Perry House.

     On the roof with him, his rag-tag band of demons waited for his signal to attack. Anticipation stirred the demons’ internal need to destroy, and tempers flared from the inactivity while Dicydius watched Marta exit the building.

     “Now!” He hissed and the demon horde descended from the roof in a flash and headed straight for Marta and her accompanying angels.

     The angels formed ranks covering Marta’s back, as she entered the car. Dicydius made his move and leapt onto the top of the limo. He plunged his long sword through the roof and into Marta’s belly. An entire legion of angels rushed to the attack, but Dicydius evaded their swords as he shot up into the air. Giving no thought to the few survivors of his horde, he disappeared.