The Forgotten Eden (27 page)

“
Vydora flew through the air and landed with an immense thud right where we’d been only an instant before. We ran into the woods, moving down the incline on the other side of the hill just as she reached its pinnacle. I turned and saw her colorful silhouette against the backdrop of the late afternoon sky, the sunlight glistening on her head and shoulders as it reflected off her horns and scales. Once she spotted us moving through the woods below her, she roared again and sprayed fire through the trees and plants, aiming directly for us.

“
The light and heat extremely intense, I shielded my eyes and turned my back to her, running as fast as I could with Banjo keeping pace with me. She pursued us and closed the gap very quickly; crushing the trees—even the largest ones—in her path. Propelled once more by fear, we ran deeper into the woods where it was much darker and a lot harder to see anything. Vydora spewed another stream of flames that struck a group of trees nearby, illuminating the area.

“
Banjo suddenly veered toward the right, sprinting into even deeper woods. Vydora continued after me and I knew I had no chance of outrunning her. About to overtake me, I could hear her breaths and I felt moisture from her snout spray upon my neck as she snorted. The sweltering warmth of her mouth cloaked my back and I smelled its sulfuric sourness. Visions of the miahluschkas’ charred, half-eaten remains filled my terrified mind. Since I knew she could bite me in half at any moment, I stopped and changed direction, sprinting toward the same area Banjo had fled to.

“
Vydora’s jaws closed on empty air. She turned her head to follow me as I ran away, roaring in anger and spraying another long stream of flames at me. In desperation, I crawled under some thick undergrowth, where I was surprised to find a small cliff hidden beneath it. I grabbed onto a thick vine and quickly slid over the edge, leaning into a deep crevice beneath the cliff as far as I possibly could. Not caring about what might be waiting for me there, I touched a warm furry animal with bristly hair on its head. I immediately backed away from it.

“
I almost scrambled out of there, but then realized it was Banjo! He started to whimper. I put my hand over his mouth to shut him up, since I knew Vydora was somewhere close by. Several trees ignited near us, and I tightened my grip on the billy goat’s snout while we both trembled. The pounding approach of the dragon bore down on our hiding place.

“
The ground above creaked and started to give way, sending clods of soft earth down upon us both. A low-pitched growl rumbled through the area and then the underside of her massive jaw appeared as she nuzzled her face into the space in front of our hideout.

“
An awkward angle for her head, she couldn’t see us hiding just a few feet away, though certainly she smelled us. Her loud snorts resounded repeatedly until she withdrew—probably on account of the fire rapidly spreading toward us all. I let out a slow quiet breath I’d been holding, but didn’t dare loosen my grip on Banjo’s snout just yet.

“
The ground above creaked heavily once more and then the thunderous steps moved away from us. I let go of Banjo and stepped out from under the cliff as the fire crept closer. I poked my head above the cliff’s ledge and saw that Vydora had already moved a hundred feet away, getting more frustrated by the minute since she couldn’t locate me. She reared her massive head back on her neck as she straightened her enormous body, causing her head to briefly disappear in the treetops. She roared her displeasure and then sprayed fire into the very trees that concealed her. The scene surreal, the burning foliage cast eerie shadows. I looked around frantically for a way out of there that wasn’t on fire.

“
I reached back under the ledge and dragged Banjo out. He whined terribly. I would’ve liked to check on Vydora’s whereabouts one more time, but the smoke and heat made it imprudent to stick around. I pushed him through a small gap in the spreading flames, praying that the fire wasn’t worse on the other side, and then followed.

“
To my relief, the fire hadn’t spread there yet. Banjo shook his body to rid himself of the ashes that’d landed on him, while I wiped my eyes with the inside of my T-shirt. We moved quickly, before the fire could spread around us. It sounded like Vydora was moving further away; her angry roars not near as loud.

“
But now I worried about Grandpa and Jeremy, since it seemed likely the dragon headed straight for our house. I needed to warn them, even though they’d surely heard her and seen the fire she’d caused. I grabbed Banjo and started running south as fast as I could, hoping to exit the woods near the Johnson’s farm.”

***

“
The remnants of daylight visible just ahead, the trees began to thin,” said Jack, after Peter motioned for him to keep things rolling. The agent had just poured himself yet another cup of coffee, and Jack again waved off any refreshments. “Soon, the green backside of the John Deere tractor in that photograph you have came into view. I secured my grip on Banjo’s collar and raced out of the woods.

“
Perhaps you know this, but Ben Johnson’s farm sat on one hundred and thirty acres, which bordered the woods on the west side. Lelan’s Way on the east side, Fielder’s Pond formed the southern boundary of the farm, while the northern border was my grandfather’s place. I ran past the tractor, practically choking poor Banjo as I pulled him along, and went directly to the Johnson’s farmhouse. I intended to use their telephone to call Grandpa, and then the sheriff and local fire department.

“
Once we arrived at the house I banged on the back door. No reply. I ran around to the front door, but got the same response. After peering through the living room and kitchen windows, I went over to the main barn that sat adjacent to the farmhouse. Both doors locked, I turned back toward the woods.

“
Alarmed to see the area we’d just traveled through completely engulfed by flames, I decided to take the old frontage road to get home. Banjo resisted, since it meant traveling so close to the fire spreading through the woods. Hell, it scared me too, since I half-expected Vydora to reappear at any moment. But no sign of her—only the destruction she’d caused.

“
The road wasn’t so overgrown with weeds and such until our farmhouse came into view, near the edge of the Johnson’s property. Suddenly, the air shook again as the dragon roared loudly from close by. I dropped to the ground, pulling Banjo down with me. The fire still raged through the woods, increasing in strength, but hadn’t crossed over into the field. In the fire’s midst stood Vydora’s hulking figure, bellowing an anxious cry into the smoke-filled air.

“
I stood back up, smiling a little. Apparently, she’d boxed herself in with the very flames she’d created. She disappeared from view, her cries growing softer as she moved further away. Finally relieved, I walked the rest of the way home with Banjo by my side.

“
Grandpa and Jeremy were in our backyard, sitting on the oak’s lowest limb. They both looked toward the woods. So far, neither of them noticed Banjo and me as we approached the gate. They didn’t seem to notice the raging fire in the woods and Vydora’s distant roars either.

“
I heard my name mentioned. Grandpa glanced toward the sphere and back gate with a very worried look. He surely knew I’d ventured where I wasn’t allowed.

“‘
Hey Grandpa!
Grandpa!!
’
I cried.
‘
I’m over here!!
Hey, Jeremy, tell Grandpa
I’m home!!! Jeremy?
G
randpa??
’

“
Neither one heard me, though I yelled at the top of my lungs. Nonchalant, they both looked at where I stood, then away again, as if unable to see
me either.

“
Just a few feet away from the back gate, I started coaxing Banjo to go underneath it like I’d done earlier that day, instead of forcing him through the railings. The sky began to morph into the deep purple of twilight. All of a sudden the earth shook again, throwing us both to the ground. A large hole opened in the earth next to us, and Genovene in all her hideousness rose up through it. Towering above me, she bent down, bringing her putrid face close to mine.

“‘
So...you think you’ve won?’ she asked, sneering at me. ‘You think
you’ve
defeated
me
, Jack Kenney??
THINK AGAIN YOU MISERABLE FUCKING CURR!!!
’

“
Her shrieking voice brought immediate severe pain to my eardrums.

“‘
I shouldn’t have played with
you the way I did! I should’ve conducted business as usual and taken you when I had the chance to do so yesterday!!
’
she snarled. ‘
Mark...my...
words!
I’ll
never
make the same
mistake in dealings with you humans
ever again!!
’

“
She looked around, as did I, while I fervently prayed in silence for someone to rescue me.

“‘
Hel—
’
I tried to scream, but she grabbed me, cutting off my words. Her slimy claws covered my mouth. I thought for sure I’d hurl my guts up when the gelatinous mess oozed into my mouth.

“‘
Well, Jackie boy...this day won’t be completely wasted!’ she continued, lowering her voice to a gruff whisper. Her breath was as foul as a ripe outhouse. ‘I’m going to break your grandfather’s spirit! I’ll leave him your mutilated little corpse to discover, but I’m taking your heart and I’m claiming your soul!!! What do you think of tha—!’

“‘
LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE, NOW, GENOVENE!!!
’
a thunderous voice shouted from behind her.

“
A brilliant white light filled the area, and a look of utter surprise spread across Genovene’s face. She backed up, reluctantly releasing me from her powerful grip as she slowly turned her sneering head toward the sphere. Upon it stood yet another amazing creature…But instead of some new fiend, it was an angel—feathered wings and all!

“
My God, the sucker was the most magnificent being I’ve ever seen—and you already know what I’d witnessed up until that point. Roughly twelve feet in height, its features were a mixture of male and female perfection. Its long lustrous hair flowed as a full golden mane upon its broad shoulders. Eyes green as emeralds, soft and luminous, with long golden lashes—as beautiful as any woman I’d ever seen. Yet, the rest of its face bore masculine traits, such as a sleek prominent nose and powerful jaw line.

“
The angel’s body was slender and yet its arms and legs were defined by powerful muscles that flexed continuously beneath bronze skin. Dressed in a shimmering white tunic, its wingspan was incredibly wide. Iridescent lavender and white feathers filled both wings that extended outward and behind from its shoulders. Unlike pictures and paintings I’d seen depicting such heavenly beings, the wings on this angel seemed to have a life of their own, moving and twitching as it stood there gazing down at us from atop the sphere.

“
So enthralled by the angel’s appearance, I didn’t notice right away that my mom also stood on the sphere. My mouth dropped open, widening further once I recognized my father next to her. He had his arm around my mother’s waist, while she in turn had her arm wrapped around the shoulders of a pretty little girl who stood just to the right of her. They were all dressed in shimmering white tunics similar to what the angel standing behind them wore.

“
Mom looked like she did when I last saw her in the village, and I imagine this was how she looked when she and Dad disappeared so many years before.

“‘
Mom?
Is that really you, too, Dad??
’ I cried, so happy to see them. Before either one could answer, the angel spoke again.

“‘
Stand up, Jack, and come here!’ it commanded, its voice so unusual, but at the same time pleasant to my ears despite its force. ‘Bring Banjo with you!’

“
I picked him up and walked past Genovene, determined not to look at her. I felt her heated stare as I walked by, but she didn’t prevent me from obeying the angel. Instead, I looked up at everyone standing on the sphere. The little girl spoke first.

“‘
Well, I see you made it Jack. I knew you’d do it! I just
knew
you would!’

“‘
Allyson??
So that’s
you
up there?’

“
It surprised me that I hadn’t recognized her sooner. It might’ve been her missing pigtails that’d thrown me since her dark hair hung down below her shoulders. Or the fact her form was no longer made from garden soil.

“‘
How do I look?’ she asked. ‘Quite an improvement from earlier, wouldn’t you say?’

“
She primped playfully and curtsied, while the spirits of my mom and dad looked on, seemingly amused. The angel, meanwhile, turned its gaze back to Genovene. The brilliant light that seemed to stretch endlessly above us filled rapidly with other angels of similar appearance descending to the earth. The light’s brightness more intense than any I’d ever experienced before, it didn’t bother my eyes. Nor did it hinder my perception, for I clearly saw everything around me.