Joshua and the Lightning Road (8 page)

“Run!” Sam dragged Charlie and me back.

Red eyes glared at me.

“Hi-yahh!” I flung the orb hard.

Blue light exploded into the space before us and knocked us all off our feet. I slammed sideways into a tree and slid down to the ground. The beasts were sprawled motionless before us on the blackened, smoldering moss. Trees smoked as flames flickered up them. Charlie and Sam lay a few feet away. We all staggered up.

My arm was numb from the shock of hitting the tree and my legs ached. The air sizzled. The sickening smell of burnt fur snaked up my nose, and my legs grew less wobbly as the fear that had gripped me drained away.

Something sailed toward me through the air. It twisted and rolled along in slow motion.

The orb.

“Joshua, it’s coming back to you,” Sam said. The orb hovered before me and fell into my hand, cool and comforting. Its blue glow dimmed as I gripped it so hard my nails cut into my palm. Sparks flared across my fingertips. Charlie moved closer to me. Blood trickled down his forehead.

“I guess the legend is true. It always goes back to the hand that throws it,” Sam said.

“If you had instructions, we sure could have used them earlier,” I said.

“Sorry. How did you know to throw it?”

“It just felt … right.”

“You know a lot of stuff,” Charlie said, his eyes wide. I squirmed, not liking the way he and Sam were staring at me.

Sam tipped his head. “Well, we know now what you can do, Joshua, and that’s what counts.” He squinted at me. “You’re from Earth?”

“Where the heck else would I be from?” I rubbed my temple back and forth, feeling light-headed from the smoke and all that had just happened.

“I’ll tell you this,” Sam said. “Of all the people in our twelve realms, only those with the ancient power from the Arrow Realm have the malumpus-tongue.”

“What’s that mean?” Not sure if I wanted to know.

“Talk to animals.”

“You mean you didn’t hear them talk?”

Sam shook his head and Charlie crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “And I thought only Doctor Doolittle talked to the animals.”

“You hear animals speak on Earth?” Sam said, his black eyes huge in his pale face.

“No. How could I?”

“Maybe the orb gives you powers here.”

I stared at the orb, wondering how I was connected to this place. For the first time, an idea forced its way into my head that maybe I wasn’t here by chance.
Bo Chez, find me!
But how could he?

Movement caught my eye. Two of the beasts stirred. “They’re not all dead,” Sam said.

I pushed the orb deep into my pocket and muttered, “Let’s go.”

The fire from the cadmean beasts’ mouths was my inspiration as my leaden legs pushed forward. We soon reached a fast running creek, the smell of singed wood and hair behind us.

Sam gestured to the rushing water. “We can’t cross here.”

“Well, I am,” I said as I waded through water that reached my knees. There were no fire-breathing foxes here, and that was good enough for me. Beyond the tumbling froth spread a heavy gray curtain of fog. Charlie and Sam both hesitated.

“What are you waiting for?” I shouted, urgency pushing me on like the water swirling around my waist. Charlie flitted his eyes up and down the creek, then ran in behind me.

“The creeks aren’t safe,” Sam yelled back.

“Nothing is here.” I’d almost reached the other side with Charlie on top of me.

“For the love of Olympus,” Sam said and charged in the water. “All right!”

Charlie and I neared the bank, his hand on my back nudging me along through the frigid water. Sensing someone watching me, I searched over my shoulder for red eyes, but there were none. We scrambled up the bank just as a snout poked its head up out of the water behind me.

Sam pointed. “We can head this way a bit and up to the top of Mount Parnassus. Down the other side is the bakehouse. I’ve only taken the road to get there, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

“Sounds easy enough,” I said, stamping my soggy feet to warm them up.

“As long as we don’t come across any Perimeter People,” Sam said.

“Who are they?” Charlie looked around as if such people were after us now.

“Outcasts, mostly. People who’ve been banished across Nostos for not following laws. Some people choose to come here and live a life without laws. Sometimes a ruler will send in guards and cadmean beasts to sweep the Perimeter Lands and toss a few off The Edge.”

Charlie scowled. “The edge of what?”

“Of our world,” Sam said matter-of-factly. “It’s flat. You drop off and never come back.”

I snorted. “Isn’t Apollo ruler of the sun? So why doesn’t he just drag them off The Edge with his chariot?”

Sam turned to me. “I told you. The gods lost their power. And he’s not the original Apollo. He died long ago. Each new king takes on the Apollo name.”

“Whatever. I just want to get my friend,” I said and took off running, spurred on by Finn’s face in my head. Charlie and Sam scrambled to keep up.

I dragged my legs over logs and rocks, my wet pants clinging to me like weights, wondering where Finn might be and what he was being forced to do. Was he trying to escape, too, in this land of the fallen Greek gods?

With the cadmean beasts long behind, Sam slowed down a bit, sniffed the air, and gave me a weary smile as if confirming we had lost our pursuers. The trees grew together, protecting me, hiding me from what chased us, and my anxiety lessened. At one point the woods were so dense we had to walk single file. I brought up the rear with a feeling of safety covering me as thick as the mist.

It was then that a rough hand closed on my throat, and cold steel pushed into my neck.

I stood like a statue, the knife at my throat pricking my skin with a thorny sting. The man smelled like wet leaves mixed with leather and chocolate. It wasn’t unpleasant, but the fact he could kill me with a flick of his hand was. Sam and Charlie both turned around and froze as well. My heart raced so fast I thought it would leap out of my mouth and flop onto the forest floor.

The man grabbed my arm with his other hand, twisting my brand. “You’re Lost Realm Reekers.”

None of us answered.

“You.” The man pointed at Charlie. “Tell me what you boys are doing in the Perimeter Lands.” His voice sliced the silence.

Charlie cleared his throat. “Trying to get to the bakehouse.”

A tickle threatened to turn into a sneeze, but the knife eased off my neck a bit.

“That’s all, eh? And how is it you came to be here, my young friends?” the man said, his body like an oven up against mine.

Charlie and Sam glanced sideways at each other.

I took a chance, speaking through tight lips so my throat didn’t get cut. “We escaped from the power mill, and we’re on our way to rescue my friend Finn and get back to Earth.”

Sam gave me a look that told me to shut up.

But the man pulled the knife off my neck and shoved me away from him, toward Sam and Charlie. I stumbled and turned around to face him. He was tall and thin, and stood fierce before us, feet planted hip-width apart, as he tapped his fisted knuckles at his waist. Arrows poked out of a quiver hanging from his back, and a bow was slung across his chest. His hooded cloak gleamed with mist and fell to the tops of his cracked leather boots. He pushed his cloak aside just enough to tuck the knife into a sheathe that was strapped on one leg with a fancy letter “L” scrolled across the top of it. His long brown hair was streaked with white and twisted into ropes that swayed across half of his face. And when he brushed it away impatiently, it revealed a long scar that ran from his hairline to his chin. Was he a fallen god, too? He looked like one with his sharp nose and angled face.

He frowned at me. “And how do you propose you’ll get back to Earth if you succeed in this rescue folly?”

Charlie and I looked at Sam, who hadn’t come clean about that part yet. Sam just shook his head, and the man returned his hand to his knife. I slowly slid my hand in my pocket and gripped the orb so hard my fingers tingled.

Sam sighed. “With a Lightning Gate key.”

I didn’t know what a Lightning Gate key was, but Sam acted as if revealing this bit of information was like pulling out one of his teeth. Maybe he didn’t trust this guy, but there was something in the man that drew me to him. I felt—somehow—he wouldn’t harm us.

The man waved a hand at Sam. “And how would you know where to get such a key?”

Sam blew out an even longer sigh. “My mother was one of King Apollo’s wives.”

Charlie grabbed my arm as I worked to scrape my jaw off the ground. Sam was a prince of a fallen Greek god?
And he wanted
us
to help
him
?
And why would a prince want to escape from his kingdom?

“So?” the man said.

Sam kicked at the dirt, looking miserable. “Living in the castle has its advantages when it comes to discovering things.”

“You have this Lightning Gate key?” the man said, stepping toward us and thrusting his hand open. “In that bag perhaps?” In just a few questions, he’d pried more from Sam than we’d learned in a day. And the more he revealed, the more our escape took shape. I nodded to Sam, eager to hear that we would soon be on our way home.

Sam shook his head. “Just slug dogs and bong bongs in here.”

The man grabbed the bag to make sure then threw it back.

“And the only person who has a key is a Child Collector,” Sam said.

My hopes sank. I had no interest in ever crossing paths with that nasty dude again. There must be another way.

“I know.” The man flipped his cloak behind him, revealing a brown belt that wrapped around his slim waist encrusted with colored squares covered in letters and numbers.

It seemed familiar, and then Sam shook a finger at the man. “That’s a Child Collector’s belt!” He backed up, and Charlie and I went with him, fear of being taken again crashing through me.

But the man just smiled at us. “Have no fear, boys.”

“You’re a Taker, then?” Sam took another step back. That didn’t sound good either.

“Afraid not.”

“What are you going to do to us?” The suspense was killing me, and I bent my knees, feet ready to run.

“I may have some other use for you besides turning you in to Hekate.”

He made no move to capture us so I dared a question. “What does the belt do?”

Sam answered for the man. “It allows a Child Collector to travel to Earth, choose a destination, and return to Nostos.” He yanked his baggy shirt down, balling it up in his hands. “Only after he’s scoured his assigned Earth region looking for kids to steal that is.”

“This is true,” the man said, cocking his head with pursed lips, having fun with us. “The Lightning Gate can pinpoint an Earth region, but my belt allows me to choose a specific destination.”

“Like where?” I said.

“A country or town—or even an address—on Earth or Nostos.”

Sam flicked a finger at the man. “And once a Collector visits there and sources out new slaves he catalogues their locations and returns to take them one by one.”

“Nice recitation from your schooling, boy.”

“And each realm is assigned specific Earth countries. Our realm is France, England, and America,” Sam continued, spitting out each word. “So where are you assigned, Collector?”

The man let his fingers slide over the belt buttons. “That is none of your concern,” he said evenly, and then he pointed at Sam. “Enough of today’s lesson! Back to business. Do you at least have the codes to go with the key?”

“Not exactly,” Sam said, slumping his shoulders.

“Describe ‘not exactly.’”

“The king keeps the codes in the Castle.
You
would know that. And you should have your own key and codes,
Child Collector
.” He flung his fingers at the man.

“Maybe I do. And maybe I don’t.” The man’s jaw twitched, and he took a step closer, placing a hand on his knife. “But I want to know how
you
planned to go about getting them. Your answer may mean the difference between staying free, or not.”

“Once we find his friend”—Sam jerked a thumb at me—“we planned to steal the codes from the castle, and then steal a gate key from the Child Collector’s supply in his house. I know where he lives. I’d steal his code set too, but he keeps it on him, and I’m not keen to search his pockets. Or yours.”

The man dropped his menacing look and laughed. “I give you marks for bravery, daring to step into a Child Collector’s abode, but how did you plan to get the codes from King Apollo? You thought the king would just hand them over if you asked politely?”

“Why bother with all this?” Sam said with a groan. “If you’re not going to turn us over to Hekate then just let us go on our way.”

But I had another mission for the man. “Will
you help us get to Earth?”

Charlie and Sam gaped at me as if my head had twisted around backward. The guy was a Child Collector and just held a knife to my throat—even I couldn’t justify why I’d asked—but we had few options and taking risks seemed to be working here.

The man folded his arms and thought for a moment. “Perhaps.” Our captor smirked at Sam. “So, Prince, convince me why I should help you or let you go. There’s a reward in it for me, after all, if I bring you back to my realm.”

Sam remained tight-lipped. The man stepped forward and put a hand again to the handle of his knife.

Sam turned red and sighed with defeat. “My mother lost favor with King Apollo and was banished from the Lost Realm to Earth. I was raised there and want to go back and find her, or at least a new home with one of these two.”

“Your mom lives on Earth?” I said. Sam’s story got stranger and stranger. “How—”

“Wait.” The man put out his hand to cut me off. “Prince, does this code set you plan to steal have all the travel codes, including the Earth one? Or just merchant transport codes to travel between realms?”

Sam scrunched his face up. “Why do you need to know that? You must have your own set! Or did you lose them and your gate key and you’re afraid of getting punished for it?”