Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete (19 page)

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

White light. Blinding flashes.
Electricity. Pins and needles. Brad sat up with a cry, only to find himself in
the theatre where he’d been before, unharmed.

Lynette was
on the ground, also coming back to consciousness. In front of both of them, the
Destair bears were in similar states of an awakening, behind a transparent
force field.

Brad helped
Lynette to her feet as they marveled at what they were witnessing.

“What the
hell is that…?” Brad whispered.

Lynette was
silent a moment. Then she said, “Sorcery.”

“This is the
last time I help you,” a voice droned behind them.

They spun
around to see a middle aged man in a robe staring earnestly. “Do you know who I
am?” he asked.

Lynette shook
her head.

“Are you…?”
Brad began. “The man Spike met in the forest?”

“I tried
helping him,” the man said. “You and your cousin were supposed to protect
Jasmine. That’s your destiny. I could see the panther using dark magic against
you however, and I felt indebted to balance the scales a little. It
is
important
that Jasmine’s baby is not raised by the panther. For if he is, there will be
irreparable consequences for both this world, and the other.”

Brad walked
towards him, his eyes wide with emotion. “Where is she? Do you know?”

“The panther
has been clever,” the man confessed. “His magic is more powerful than mine. I
can only see so far. It was important that you got her away from the Destair
while there was still time. I sent your cousin to watch over her tonight, but I
underestimated the panther’s knowledge of the baby’s power. He has taken her.”

“I knew it,”
Brad gasped. “I just felt something was wrong.”

“But you
don’t know where she is?” Lynette asked.

The man shook
his head. “They’re still here on earth. Not too far away, I don’t think. But …
I’ve lost them. I don’t know where they’ve gone.”

“Well,” Brad
said, “who would know? Did Hades? Do any of the Destair?”

“No,” the man
answered. “The panther has been careful not to disclose the location.”

“Well,
damnit!” Brad cried. “What can we do?”

“It’s my
belief that the panthers are on an island of some kind. Just a feeling I have.
I would encourage you to speak with the Lion Guardian about it as he may know
which island holds them.”

“He won’t
help us,” Lynette said. “I’ve already spoken with him, and his focus is to
protect his people and their paradise. Exposing himself to –”

“There is
someone else who may help you,” the man cut over her. “If the Lion Guardian
doesn’t know where to find the panthers, I would speak to the King, Zane
Hunter, who lives on Firebound Island. His queen is Stacey Caversham, a friend
of Jasmine’s. He could send his dragon guards out to find the island, although
by then, it might already be too late…”

“I don’t know
this Zane,” Brad said. “Or any of these dragons. Or how to reach them. Can’t
you ask their help for us?”

The man
chuckled. “I wouldn’t last five minutes on that island without having to dodge
a fireball. There’s a history I have with the dragons … we best not touch on.”

Brad turned
to Lynette. “What do you want to do?”

“My father is
of no use,” Lynette said sternly. “Maybe we can talk to these dragons. I have a
private helicopter at my residence. The pilot should know how to get to this
island.”

Brad turned
to the man. “Thank you for your help then.”

“I would
hurry,” the man replied. “My spell will wear off soon.”

Brad looked
back the magnetic field. He grabbed Lynette by the wrist and led her in the
opposite direction.

“Just one
last thing,” the man called after them.

“What’s
that?” Brad turned.

“When you see
Jasmine, do not forget,” the man advised. “She is yours.”

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Jasmine’s slippers left footprints as
she walked through the corridor of snow. She looked back at them afraid what
would happen if she was caught where she was. She could always say she had
gotten lost. She was, after all, quite lost now. At least she knew how to find
her way back.

At the end of
the corridor, there was a door which she opened from there she saw a spiraling
staircase leading downward. She listened, to see if she could hear anyone
approaching from the bottom, but there was nothing but silence. She closed the 
door and began making her way down.

At the bottom
of the stairs there corridor in front of her was very dark. The floor wasn’t
filled with snow anymore, but hardened stone. She came to a wall and felt
around for a door which she opened.

She was in
the palace’s dungeon.

To either
side of the walls, there were small barred cells, one after the other – but
this wasn’t what caught Jasmine’s attention first.

The dungeon
was filled with frozen statues.

Jasmine let
the door close behind her as she descended the steps, dazzled by each of the statues.
Men. Women. Children. Some of the men were wearing heavy armor and carrying
swords. Some of the women were carrying frozen babies in their arms. Jasmine’s
eyes looked along the cells and saw that each contained at least one prisoner,
if not more. And they were all frozen.

“What are you
doing down here?” a voice boomed behind her.

She whirled
round to find Gaspar staring down at her.

“I’m sorry,
Master,” Jasmine said fretfully. “It appears I’ve become lost.”

Gaspar walked
down the steps slowly. He stood beside her.

“What are all
these statues?” Jasmine dared to ask. “Why are down here all together?”

“They were
once real people,” Gaspar asked. “Shifters who betrayed us.”

“You mean the
Uthuro?”

Her master’s
eyes almost exploded out of his head. “You’re still thinking about them, are
you?”

Jasmine
slowly nodded.

“Your mind is
powerful indeed,” Gaspar murmured. “Yes, the Uthuro. Here they shall remain
forever. As well as anybody else who challenges me.”

“Are they
coming for me?”

“Is who
coming?”

“Thunder and
Spike.”

Gaspar
grabbed Jasmine by the throat and shoved her against the wall. “If they do then
I shall see that they suffer this same fate. Remember what I told you. They
abandoned you. Say it.”

“They
abandoned me.”

“They don’t
love you.”

“They don’t love
me,” Jasmine said. Then added, “But I love them.”

“NO!” Gaspar
cried. “I am your master now! I am the one you love!”

“Oh.”

Gaspar pulled
her away up from the wall and pushed her up the steps and through the dungeon
room’s door. She fell down on the dark floor, with him standing over her.

“I shall show
you,” Gaspar declared. “I shall show you I am the one you love.”

He pulled her
gown from her and then dropped his pants to reveal his enormous, muscular
penis. Jasmine was stunned by it, but didn’t know what to do.

He bent down
over her, kissing her neck, her breasts, cupping her face in his hands.

“You want me
to show you?” he whispered. “You want me to show you what it’s like?”

As she stared
into the panther’s eyes, a flash lit up her mind.

She saw him,
not Gaspar, but
him
– the one who had taken her innocence from her –
standing there over her bed. His face beautiful one minute, but rotting like a
corpse the second.

The most
beautiful thing in the world, disguising a poisonous entity filled with
sadistic temperament and lustful hate.

She knew that
man’s face.

She would
never forget it.

“Stop it,”
she said, sliding away from the panther. “Just stop it.”

“No!” he
declared. “You are mine!”

He still
wasn’t inside her, but he was trying, grasping for her legs.

“Please
don’t,” Jasmine wheezed. “Leave me alone, Quraal.”

“What?”
Gaspar said, exasperated. “No, I’m not Quraal. I’m –”

Then the door
on the upper floor at the winding staircase opened.

“Master?
Master, are you down there?” a man’s voice called.

“What?”
Gaspar roared.

“It’s
important you come here. Please.”

Gaspar stood
up and put his pants on. Jasmine rolled over and grabbed hold of her robe
quickly.

“We’ll finish
this soon,” Gaspar stated. “Very soon.”

Then he raced
up the stairs to find out what the problem was.

“I have to
fucking get out of here,” Jasmine whispered in the dark.

Where was a
bear when you needed one?

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

As the car peeled round the bend, and
descended further into the depths of the overgrown forest, Spike spotted a sign
planted in the ground and read its words silently.

Welcome to
Godless Valley.

“Stop the
car,” he said quietly.

Dennis turned
from the driver’s seat. “Huh?”

“I said, stop
the car!”

Dennis hit
the brakes.

Spike opened
his door and jumped out, landing in the dirt. He walked over to the sign to
make sure it was the one he remembered, as Dennis also got out and moved round
to meet him.

“Are we
here?” Dennis asked. “Cause this is like nowhere.”

“We have to
go on foot now,” Spike said.

“Right…”

Spike started
towards the trees behind the sign.

“Should I
bring the rifle?” Dennis asked.

Spike turned.
“No.”

“Alright,”
Dennis said, joining him. “You don’t have to say it like that.”

He caught up
to Spike and the pair made their way together through the forest.

It was all
coming back now. Yes. Spike remembered this place. He hadn’t been here in ten
years … before the Uthuro. Before they had given up on trying to make it with
the Destair’s help. He and Thunder had always been different. Grizzly hearts
were softer than the hearts of other bears – but he and Thunder had proven
themselves to be great and fearless warriors. The Lion Guardian, Lynette’s
father, had at first resisted their attempts to woo him for Lynette’s hand in
marriage, but over time he came to adore them as though they were his own
children.

Even at
stage, both Spike’s parents were long gone. He looked up to the Lion Guardian.
Trusted his guidance more than that of anyone else’s. Which is why when he said
–

“Hey,” Dennis
hissed at him. “I think I found something.”

Spike turned
back to where his companion was. The human pulled back a series of vines
leading to an adjacent pathway. Beyond there Spike could see the remains of
what was once the lion village.

“Yes,” Spike
sighed. “You have found it.”

They walked
through the forest together, an owl sailing over them, almost as an omen of
some kind. Good or bad. Spike wasn’t sure. He turned to the human nervously,
wondering if he had other plans for him once they found out where his sister
was. The human would never understand Spike’s love for her. Spike knew he was a
product of his upbringing, as he himself was. Like Jasmine, her brother had
more in common with the Destair and the people of the industrialized world.

But still.
Because of Jasmine.

There was
hope for this young man too…

“This way,”
Spike said, moving around the side of the village.

Before them
was a mess of rubble. Rubbish. Broken down shacks and huts. Only a few still
stood their ground. Spike could feel the past calling to him from here. How
easy it was for his mind to go back there. To a time where things were simple.
And there was such peace.

“This place
is deserted,” Dennis said. “I mean, is there even anyone here?”

Spike pointed
ahead of them, to a hut standing in the centre of the village. “That’s the
one,” he said.

They both
walked up to the hut and as Dennis pulled the door back, it came off at the
hinges and broke away.

“Be careful,”
Spike hissed at him.

“Sorry,”
Dennis hissed back.

The confines
of the hut were dark and murky. Full of dust.

Dennis
remained at the edge of the doorway, while Spike went to a table in the centre
of it.

“He’s not
here,” Dennis stated. “You fucking idiot.”

Spike put his
hand out to signal the man’s silence. He then ripped up the table cloth to
reveal an orb like object. He turned it over in his hands, and felt for the
switch. He then pressed it and set the ball back down on the table.

Light spewed
forth. Out from it, the image of the Lion Guardian’s head materialized.

His eyes were
closed.

“Holy shit,”
Dennis whispered.

“Guardian,”
Spike said excitedly. “Guardian, it is I King of the Uthuro. Spike. You
remember me, don’t you?”

The lion’s
eyes opened. The white’s of his eyes were colored with the gold of his fur. His
purples were swirling with blues and grays.

“Who is that
with you?” the Guardian demanded.

“That’s just
a friend,” Spike said. “He means no harm.”

Dennis waved.
“Hello.”

“Why have you
awoken me at this hour? What is your emergency?”

“Uh,” Spike
gushed. “You said to come here if I ever needed your help.”

“Yes…”

“Well, I need
your help now. My… A friend of ours has been taken by panthers. They wanted
your location so they could get to some islands your protecting. Places of
paradise.”

“Ah…” the
Guardian purred. “So Gaspar has returned.”

“You know of
the Arch Baron panther?”

“He was an
ally once,” the Guardian said. “I took pity on his background and schooled him
in the things he needed.”

“What
happened?”

“He had a
brother. A man who his people claimed was the most powerful dragon who ever
lived. He won many wars. Fought and killed many monsters and foes. But he fell
ill to the spell of an unlikely evil. And soon Gaspar was claimed by it too.
Afterwards, they were both banished.”

“Banished?”

“To the land
of the damned. To the otherworld’s hell.”

“But now he’s
here. And he has our friend. Can you help us?”

“I can…” the
Guardian said slowly.

Spike knelt
down on one knee. “What would you have me do?”

“You will
have to go to the island where she has been taken. I can show you how to get
there. But first you must listen.”

“Okay, I’m
listening.”

“Your friend
too.”

Spike looked
up to Dennis who appeared shell-shocked.

“Dennis!”
Spike scolded him. “Show the Guardian your respect!”

“Sorry,”
Dennis mumbled, and got on his knee likewise.

“Good,” the
Guardian said. “Now, on this island you will find a palace. It is heavily
guarded by the panther men, but you must find a way inside of it. Once inside,
you will need to find the green statue. Follow the light to it. Inside the
statue is a skilled and noble warrior who has the power to defeat Gaspar and
his panthers. But you must find the statue before sunrise. If you don’t then
I’m afraid it will be too late to save your friend.”

“Okay,” Spike
said. “We will find the statue. As soon as you show us how to get to the island
we will go there.”

“You are to
bring one other person with you,” the Guardian said. “Someone who is missing
from your party. Someone who holds the key to everything.”

“Who is
that?” Spike asked. “You mean my cousin Thunder?”

“No,” the
Guardian replied. “She is a woman.”

“You mean…”
Spike trailed off. “Your daughter? Lynette?”

“No,” the
Guardian replied. “She is a human, not a shifter.”

Spike shook
his head. He had no idea who the lion was talking about.

“Wait a
second,” Dennis spoke up. “You don’t mean … Dara?”