The Map Maker's Quest (10 page)

“You must go inside and place the stone,” Tasker said to Flying Cloud. “I'll stay here and gather what I need to finish waking him.”

Flying Cloud hesitated at the entrance to the cave, she felt a warm moist breeze coming from the open mouth. A creature at rest, sleeping, and she was about to enter his mouth. But, what choice did she have? Carefully she edged into the cave and looked around, seeing a small opening that led down into the ground at a steep angle. She figured getting out of the cave would not be easy.

“It's all right, Flying Cloud,” Tasker said when she hesitated. “He won't fully awaken until we complete the process from up here.” Tasker was actually sure that it wouldn't take the giant long to awaken, but he also knew she would be safe. No need to scare the girl with the fact the giant would probably sense her movements and spit her out. She would survive, even if Tasker was forced to call on his own abilities to cushion her fall.

“Fine,” Flying Cloud replied. She stepped back out of the cave and picked up a thick branch about the same length as her arm. Around the end of the stick she wrapped a piece of old cloth from her bag and waited as Tasker pulled a match from his pocket and lit it on fire. It was a poor torch, but it would work for the time being.

She walked back into the cave and carefully made her way down the slippery slope leading to the bottom. Bits of rock broke loose all around her and rolled to the bottom of the cave. When she finally stopped slipping down the incline, she found herself standing in a long, round tunnel at least fifteen feet high. The slight pull of the wind increased as she started walking down the tunnel. Soon she found herself standing in a great chamber that broke into hundreds of smaller chambers. The movement of the air down here was magnified ten fold and it pulled at her hair and clothes, whipping them around. Off to the left was a narrow tunnel where she could see a tiny bit of light making its way from the distance. She moved towards the light. After walking another twenty paces, she was standing in another small cave. Directly in the middle of the cave was a glowing stone split into four parts.

“Amazing,” Flying Cloud muttered. Three of the chambers were shining brightly, but the last one was muted and only flickered weakly. In the three chambers were three massive agates of a size equal to the one in her bag. Carefully she pulled the Heart of the Lake from her bag and held it up. Immediately the lines in the agate began to glow brightly, and she felt the slight tug as the stone, as if it struggled to rejoin the rest. She stepped closer and held out the massive agate. A moment later the stone flew from her hand and slipped back into place. And in that very moment that the stone rejoined the heart of the giant, the cavern around her shook violently.

The giant was waking and Flying Cloud suddenly felt the urge to run.

 

Chapter Ten

The Sleeping Giant Awakens

F
lying Cloud turned and fled the heart of the giant as fast as she could run. Her bandolier bag beat wildly against her side as she sprinted up what could only be described as the throat of the monster. When she arrived at the passage leading back up to its mouth she was horrified to see that the cave was moving and slowly getting steeper. The stone around her ground against itself as, against all logic, what was stone and earth came alive.

She threw down the torch and started scrambling up the slope, frantic to reach the bit of sunlight still coming into the passage from the giant's mouth. Despite the desperate bid to escape, she fell back to the ground. Then the giant moved again but this time it was in her favor. A moment later the cavern lurched wildly, and she realized with horror that the Sleeping Giant was not only awake but starting to stand up.

The short tunnel leading to its mouth suddenly leveled. Flying Cloud realized the giant was raising its head and she sprinted down the tunnel trying to keep her footing. It was like trying to run through an earth quake and she skidded to her knees, skinning them both badly. Then the giant's head turned and she was expelled from the cave and onto a thick strip of sand near the beach.

“Flying Cloud!” Tasker shouted.

“What did you do!” Flying Cloud cried back. Blood dripped from the cuts on her legs and several on her arms as she stumbled to her feet and glared at the dwarf. “I thought you were going to wait until I was out!” She was furious with him.

“I didn't do it,” Tasker said back to her. “He awoke on his own, and he is not happy.” Suddenly a gigantic stone face peered down at them and a thunderous voice erupted. Tasker realized the truth. The stone giant had been on the edge of waking, and Tasker had done nothing to aid the process.

“What have you done to my wife?” the giant rumbled. His voice sounded like great boulders being smashed together and bits of dirt fell to the ground.

Tasker looked around, unsure of what the giant was talking about.

“She was asleep here when a wall of darkness filled the space between us. Now I cannot feel her at all,” The giant's head and arm rose two hundred feet into the air, he looked around, and the motion broke dozens of smaller stones loose. Tasker and Flying Cloud threw themselves to the sides as the stones struck the ground all around them. Fountains of sand rocketed into the air and showered down, coating everything with dirt and sand.

“The Divide separated them!” Tasker shouted. He rolled out of the way of a pair of boulders. Then he grabbed Flying Cloud and threw her out of the way of another stone. “Listen to me!”

“Where is she?” The gravelly voice roared again.

The giant's face appeared again, and Tasker shielded himeself from the hot breath. “Stop and listen to me!” Tasker shouted to the giant. “I can show you where she is.” The giant paused and stared at him with great stone eyes that grated when they moved in their sockets. He leaned even closer and moved his head to the side slightly. Suddenly Tasker felt very small, and he knew for all his skill and power this stone giant could crush him like an insect.

“Where is she?”

“A thousand years ago, long after you fell asleep, a great Divide was put in place,” Tasker continued in a calm voice. “This side of the world was not ready for creatures like us. When this happened you had already been asleep for many years, but your wife had only just fallen asleep a few years earlier. When the Divide went up, she was trapped on the other side. And, because no one knew you were here, you remained here.”

“I want to go to her,” the giant said sadly. “She's hurting, that much I know. Evil beings are digging in her for minerals and gems. If they take too much, she will not recover, and I will lose her forever.” The giant looked around again at the landscape around them as if hoping to spot his bride nearby.

Tasker's mouth hung open in surprise. Then it hit him. That was the reason for the rich iron mines along the shore of Lake Superior. “Were there others of your kind sleeping in this area?” Tasker asked slowly.

“Yes, many hundreds of us chose this place to sleep,” the giant replied. “I do not feel most of them here anymore.”

“I can take you to a place where you can cross over to where she is,” Tasker said to the giant. “But you should know an evil ruler is responsible for the death of many of your kind on our side. He has come here to steal and plunder.”

“You must stop him,” the giant pleaded. “Soon all of my kin will be gone, and I will be alone in this world.”

“We can't,” Tasker replied. “We aren't strong enough.”

“Where is he,” the giant roared. “I'll show him the meaning of strength.” The blast of sound and wind that caught Tasker,nearly bowled him over, and the earth shook as the stone giant slammed his fists against the ground.

“Can you pick us up and carry us?” Tasker asked. “We will take you to the place.” The giant reached down and carefully picked up Tasker and Flying Cloud. He settled them on his massive shoulder and then stood slowly to his feet.

Flying Cloud forgot about her wounds as they rose into the air. The giant stood three hundred feet in the air and she could see the city of Thunder Bay laid out on the ground. She also saw hundreds of people that looked as small as ants staring up at them in shock. Bits of smoke and fire erupted in places as the iron carriages slammed into each other and ground to a halt. Hundreds of humans ran into the streets as the giant strode into the shallow water and then turned south along the rocky beach. Gleaming white yachts were crushed into splinters as they walked through the edge of town. Others were thrown up by the waves until they crashed into shore and were swamped.

Cars ran off the road and crumpled against the stones. Tasker hoped the people inside were not hurt too badly. Still the giant was moving south. Woe to Cain and his great ship when they arrived in Duluth.

 

* * * * *

 

Jane hugged tightly onto Jacob
as they roared down Highway 61 towards Duluth. The old motorcycle hummed along happily. They were near the town of Tofte when Jacob pulled over and ground to a halt at a small gas station parking lot.

“We need some gas,” Jacob said. He rolled the bike to a halt at the pump and slowly disengaged himself from Jane's arms. He put three gallons of gas into the tank and then they all walked inside and took care of the bill. A couple of Mountain Dews and three donuts later, they were heading south again, and the pine trees blurred past them. The first sign of trouble arose when they came into view of Duluth. Jacob pulled over to the side of the road. They all stared in amazement. A thick pale of black smoke hung over the city. Hundreds of cars were jamming the highway leading out of town. Even more people were walking and running away from the city.

“What's going on?” Jacob asked a nearby man.

“I don't know, but the air raid sirens went off, and the police told everyone to evacuate. They're warning people away from the harbor.”

“Cain?” Jane said after the man had hurried away. Many of the people were empty handed but a few carried small bags. In the distance the wail of a police siren called out non-stop and added a sense of urgency to the scene.

“But how?”

“I don't know, but he must have found out how to open the Divide in a way big, enough at least for him to transport that monster ship of his through to our side,” Jane replied. “It's the size of an aircraft carrier.”

They kept rolling down the road towards the lower section of the city. Immediately Jacob could see a problem brewing. The police had barricades up where the road turned towards the lake, and they were trying to move people away from the city. A few men in army uniforms and a couple of Coast Guard officers spread out around the area. They all had their weapons drawn and didn't seem in the mood to discuss anything with anyone.

“Hold on!” Jacob shouted to Jane. He gunned the bike into the ditch and cut left away from the road. Behind him he heard shouts of the officers as they saw what he was doing. A moment later they were into a side alley and racing south, one of the police ran towards them, but he vanished behind a building. “I think we're through!”

Jacob kept moving down towards London Road where the Glen­sheen Mansion was located. As he drove south, the crowds of people fleeing began to thin. Soon they had the entire road to themselves. A thick layer of smoke hung over the city and was trapped against the hillside. More chilling was the sporadic gunfire that echoed across the houses.

“Is Cain insane?” Jane asked. They pulled into the gravel parking area just north of the mansion and coasted into a grassy area shielded by trees and thick bushes. She felt Bella shift inside her jacket and hoped Jacob wouldn't notice the movements of the small fairy.

“I think he went insane a long time ago,” Jacob replied. He pulled his shield from where it was strapped to the back of the side car and checked his sword. “What did the poem say?”

Jane recited them:

 

“The grandest of homes, built from iron,

Fire and stone, call it home,

Ghosts rise up and sadly watch,

Down the tunnel, a rod of iron

Take this shard, to light your path.

Four markers wait, to find the treasure.”

 

The words were burned into her brain and she recalled them easily. She fingered the glass shard in her pocket as they hurried across the manicured lawn to where the front doors of the grand structure hung ajar. “We have the first, now we need the next three.”

They ran up the stone steps and skidded to a halt just inside the doors, suddenly Jacob heard a tremendous roar and something struck his shield with the force of a sledge hammer.

“STOP!” Jane shouted. She saw a scared woman in a green dress step out from behind a partially open door and point a handgun at them. The next moment a finger of fire erupted from the muzzle and Jacob shouted in surprise. Jane heard Bella gasp and the weight from her shoulder vanished as Bella sought cover somewhere else.

“You're not looting this place!” the woman yelled.

“We don't want to loot,” Jane started to shout back, then paused. “Karen?” she said. She looked hard at the woman facing them.

The woman stared back. “Jane?”

The gun sagged to the ground, and Jacob stumbled back to his feet. “Wow, that felt like a really big hammer,” Jacob muttered. He turned his shield over and looked at the dragon scale—not even a mark on the material. “Probably will leave a bruise on my shoulder.” Jacob rolled his shoulders around and tried to stretch the muscles of his neck, which were now very tight.

Jane ran over and gave Karen a huge hug. She heard the gun drop to the ground with a thud, and the Adherent musket she also had been carrying followed it.

“What happened?” Jane asked. She looked around the entrance. It looked like someone had come in and started smashing holes in the walls.

“Some men came by and tried to steal from us,” Karen said. She carefully picked up the pistol. “I fired a warning shot, and they ran away. Only three of us stayed and we were trying to lock all the windows and doors when you came. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. I thought it was the same people coming back.”

“Well, I'm glad you're a good shot,” Jacob muttered. He walked over, trying to stop his hands from shaking.

“Oh, I've never fired a gun in my life,” Karen replied. “I was aiming lower.” She smiled at him sheepishly. As she moved, the gun barrel swung by where Jackie was standing, and she yelped and ducked behind a nearby wall.

Jacob pushed the big front doors shut and turned the locks to secure the portal.

“What's going on?” Karen asked. “I heard there was a ship in the harbor firing a cannon. Is it terrorists?”

“Terrorists don't use cannons, Karen,” Jane replied. The expression that crossed her friend's face was priceless. It was a look only a blonde could pull off perfectly. Karen was one of the highlights of Jane's visiting her grandparents every summer. She lived a few streets north of them, and Jane used to play with Karen every summer.

“So what are you guys doing here?” Karen asked. “You do realize the museum is closed.”

“We figured that out,” Jacob quipped with a short laugh. “We're here looking for something.”

There was a gasp from the end of the hall, and they all turned to see an elderly man jogging towards them. He puffed and gasped for air like he had seen too little exercise in his life.

“Karen, what's going on down here. You're supposed to be locking the windows and doors?”

“Look, Mr. Leads,” Karen said. She smiled at the old man and pointed to them. “It's my friends. That's Jacob from school. He plays on the football team. And this is Jane, who comes to visit her grandparents every summer, and this is Jackie . . .” Karen paused for a moment staring at Jackie. “I thought you were lost or dead or something?”

Jane might have been irritated with Karen, but they were all too busy ducking and gasping because each time she pointed to one of them, it was with the loaded pistol in her hand. Finally the fourth time Jane jumped away from the front of the gun Jacob managed to get to Karen's side and carefully remove the pistol from her hand.

“Oh, sorry,” Karen muttered when she realized why they were all scrambling around. Still a moment later a smile filled her face again, and she turned to Mr. Leads. “Downstairs windows and doors are all locked, sir.”

“Good . . . good,” Mr. Leads replied. “And why are the rest of you here?”

Before Jane could reply, Karen piped up, “They're looking for something.”

“Looters!” Mr. Leads exclaimed.

Jane and Jackie groaned, “No!” they both shouted at once.

“Look, Mr. Leads, do you remember my great uncle Ernie,” Jane asked.