Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta (9 page)

“This is Valta. We’re trying to find our way back home, and we don’t need you tagging along if you’re gonna be your usual sneaky self,” Piper said.

“But you guys just can’t leave me here! You can trust me, I swear!”

“How can we trust you?” Gabriel shook his head. “You’re always pulling some scam. Right before this, you tried to hijack our science project—”

“Please, Gabe,” Cedric pleaded. “I’m sorry, but I want to go home, too.
Please
.” Cedric pressed his palms together in front of his face, as though he were praying. “Besides, you’re the one who pushed me into the water.”

Gabriel sunk his hands into his jeans pockets. “Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry about that.”

He looked at Piper and Brent. None of them wanted Cedric to come, but they couldn’t leave Cedric alone in a dying Valta, either. What would they tell his parents when they got home—
if
they got home? Reluctantly, Brent nodded. Piper rolled her eyes.

“All right. You can come,” Gabriel said.

Brent squinted at Cedric. “You’d better not cause any trouble, Morley, or I swear … ”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Piper huffed, obviously unhappy about their new tagalong. “Just keep your voice down and do what we say.”

Gabriel looked at his map while Brent peeked outside the cave, checking the weather.

“All clear out here,” Brent said.

Gabriel groaned, realizing they still had quite a distance to go. “Let’s go, then. We’ve gotta hustle to make it to Ericville before dark. Hopefully, we won’t run into another storm.”

“What’s in Ericville?” Cedric asked.

Brent scowled. “You’re on a need-to-know basis—and right now, you don’t need to know.”

Cedric grunted and followed along. They climbed over the rubble and headed back to the path.

Piper gaped at the chunks of fallen rock. “We’re lucky we didn’t get killed.”

Gabriel sighed. “I have to give Cedric some credit for that. I was almost road kill.”

Cedric’s lips twisted into a smirk. “See, I’m not
all
bad, right?”

Piper gave him a steely glare. “Don’t think you’re our friend now, just because you did what any human being would do.” Piper wasn’t much of the trusting type, and she wouldn’t be taken in by the likes of Cedric Morley.

“Oh, just drop it, Piper. I don’t want him around anymore than you do, but arguing the whole time isn’t gonna work, either,” Brent said. Cedric screwed up his face at Piper, and she turned away, grunting. “Whatever.”

The rest of the day in Valta was noisy. The kind of noisy that made your eardrums hurt, and with Gabriel’s new enhanced hearing, it was almost unbearable. The weather was stormy, and all the creatures made sounds as though they were in pain. It was even worse than that Rob Zombie movie Gabriel had watched.

After walking for what seemed like forever, the path narrowed. Soon, it was no more than six feet wide. The narrow path led them to a massive wall with a wooden gate at least forty feet tall. Huge mountains soared on either side of the wall.

No way we’d ever be able to climb them.

In front of the gate an open cylinder shot from the ground. It reached Gabriel’s waist and was about two inches wide. Gabriel scrunched his eyebrows. Brent shrugged and trudged to the gate. Together, they pushed and pulled, but it wouldn’t open.

Cedric plunked to the ground, sulking. “What’re we gonna do now?”

Gabriel ignored him and looked at his map again, confused. “I don’t know, Cedric,” Gabriel groaned. “Maybe we’re not even in the right spot … ” He leaned against the gate and a deep groan shot out. The natural cracks in the wood transformed into a pair of slatted eyes and a large, frowning mouth. They all jumped back. Piper screamed.

“Give your mortal name and spew into the receiver. One at a time.” The gate spoke in a businesslike voice. They all looked at each other, mouths gaping. The gate huffed and rolled its slatted eyes. “I
said
, give your mortal name and spew into the receiver, one at a time. Do it now, or turn and make haste.”

Gabriel turned and pointed to the cylinder. “
Spew
? Into that thing?”

The gate blinked its eyes, as if to say yes.

Piper screwed up her face. “I think he means to spit into it.”

Gabriel smirked. “All right, then.” He walked to the cylinder. As he leaned over it, a clear vial sprang up, held in place by metal rungs. “I’m Gabriel Stone,” he said loudly, and spat into the vial. Then he stepped away, and held his hands palm up. “Now what?”

The gate spoke in a loud voice. “Human. Step before me. Next there, give your mortal name and spew into the cylinder.”

“Brent Chapman.” Brent spit and stepped aside.

Again, the gate yelled, “Human.”

Brent ambled alongside Gabriel. “What the hay?” he whispered.

“I have no freaking idea. Let’s just see how this plays out. Better be ready to use your fire power. But hey.” He nudged Brent. “I guess we’ll find out if Cedric is human, after all.”

Brent chuckled.

After they’d each stated their names and waited for the gate to instruct them, the massive gates began to part. “Move inside swiftly or be compressed in my clutches. Four only,” the gate warned. Its eyes moved from left to right, ensuring that only four entered. They hurried inside, and the gate slammed shut behind them.

Little, multi-colored houses lined winding cobblestone streets as far as they could see. People ran around, looking eager to get somewhere, and a man sold newspapers on the side of the street. Gabriel read the headline:
The Empress Fails Us All!
A small child walked by, holding a lifelike, cat-shaped balloon that meowed as it danced through the air. A man ran toward them. He wore a lab coat way too large for his frame, and big glasses jostled over his blue eyes.

Gabriel eyed him in fascination.
He looks human.
The man stopped in front of them and ran his fingers through his gray, tousled hair.

“Are you the children the empress sent?” The man bopped from one foot to the next, like he had drunk too much coffee or something. Gripping a clipboard, he waved it around as he spoke.

Gabriel laughed, then coughed, pulling himself together. “Yep. I’m Gabriel Stone and these are my friends and, er, Cedric.”

“Who are you, sir?” Piper asked.

“I am Eric of Ericville. I created it, you know. We humans needed a place of our own. There are some nasty Zeverons who’d like to see us extinct—the human race, that is.”

Gabriel gaped at him. “You really
are
human?”

Brent gawked at the people strolling through the street. “And there’re even
more
of you here?”

“Yes, yes, lots. Come with me now; let’s go chat in my abode. You must be tired, and my Flossie has made quite a spread for you.” He spun around and skipped away, clicking his heels together.

The children covered their mouths, unable to contain their giggles. Brent ran behind him and, when Eric wasn’t looking, he skipped, hopped, and made glasses with his fingers just like Eric’s spectacles. The three busted a gut, but Eric just ignored them.

Down a quiet street and up a long flight of stairs sat a large, stone house. In front, double doors spread wide with a brass label that read:
Eric and Dorothy’s Abode.

“Didn’t you say your wife’s name is Flossie?” Piper asked.

“Her name is Dorothy, but I call her Flossie.” He winked.

“Well that makes sense, doesn’t it?” Piper whispered to Gabriel with a giggle. When they walked inside, a tabby cat greeted them and rubbed against Piper’s leg. She giggled and bent over, petting it.

“I am Tratta. How do you do?” it said, followed by a long purr.

“
Hola
, Tratta,” Piper said, picking her up and snuggling her. “Another animal that talks!”

A woman about the same age as Eric, with short, wavy brown hair and emerald green eyes, came rushing around the corner. She wiped her hands on her apron before she shook their hands.

“Well, hello, fellow humans. I’m Eric’s wife, Flossie. We’ve been expecting you.” She ushered them into the kitchen. “You’re just in time to eat. I’ve been cooking for hours.”

“I like it here,” Brent said to Piper as he stretched out at the end of the table. “It almost feels like home.”

Piper giggled. “Except for the talking cat!”

Eric took a seat beside them at the large mahogany table. Beef stew, broccoli with cheese sauce, grilled salmon with bruschetta, and steaming hot pizza lay waiting.

Flossie shrugged. “Wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

The kids grinned at each other and dug in.

“Mr. Eric, why did we have to spit into that thing?” Brent asked as he bit into a slice of pizza.

“Yeah, that was really gross,” Piper added.

“Please, Eric will do.
Mr.
Eric makes me feel old.” He laughed. “We do the spit test on all visitors to ensure they’re human. If I don’t detect human DNA in your saliva, you can’t get in. Only
humans
are permitted in Ericville.”

“But don’t we look human?” Piper asked.

“Yes, of course, Piper. But we have shape-shifters who would love to get their hands on my formulas, and they can look human, too.”

“That’s right,” mumbled Piper. “The empress and Evangeline look totally human.”

“Shape-shifters?” Brent asked, raising an eyebrow at Flossie. “What’s that?”

“Beings that can change their appearance, dearest,” Flossie answered.

“Just because one looks human doesn’t mean one is,” Eric warned.

“Let them eat, Eric, for goodness sakes. All this talk of saliva and shape-shifters and they’ll lose their appetites.”

“But how did humans end up here?” Piper asked between mouthfuls of stew.

“Oh, it goes way back,” Eric answered.

“But don’t you wanna go
home—you know, back to our part of, um, Earth?” Gabriel asked around a mouthful of pizza.

“This is our home now. It’s all we know.”

“And all I care to know,” Flossie added. “Valta was beautiful before Duke Malgor went stark-raving mad.”

“Um, Duke Malgor? Who’s that?” Cedric’s voice rose at the end.

“Duke Malgor, dear. He is the reason you’re on this daring adventure, no?”

“H-how long have you been here?” Gabriel interrupted. He didn’t want Cedric to hear anything about Malgor.

“We humans in Valta go back over two hundred years now. We belong in Valta. If it dies, we will too,” Flossie answered.

Gabriel continued to eat, thinking about everything that had been said. He hated that Valta was in trouble, and that Eric and Flossie loved it so much they were willing to die along with it. He took a gulp of iced tea.
I guess it would be like NASA telling us we have to relocate to Mars. Willow Creek probably sounds like outer space to them.
He sighed as he placed his glass on the table.

The cat begged for table scraps, pawing at Piper and calling, “
Hola
.” Piper laughed, happy to oblige.

“Looks like you’ve made a new friend,” Flossie said, chuckling.

“She’s so cute,” Piper cooed, “and she mimicked my Spanish. What a smart kitty.” Piper handed Tratta more scraps.

“Not too much or you’ll upset her tummy. Then she’ll keep you up all night with her complaining. She loves to talk, that one.”

After dinner, they washed up and followed Eric to his laboratory in the basement. Big tables held vials full of colorful liquids with vapors. Small rodents scurried in cages, and formulas covered whiteboards. Open boxes full of dusty books lined one wall. A dull humming that sounded like bees swarming in Gabriel’s ears permeated the room. He tapped the heel of his hand against his head.

Eric moved some boxes out of the way to make room for them. “This is what I call organized chaos. I’m trying to find a cure for Valta, though I can’t duplicate the Divinities, no matter how hard I try. They are unique, and without them, we’re condemned.”

Gabriel felt Cedric’s eyes boring through the center of his chest, where the crystal warmed the skin beneath his shirt “What’re you looking at?”

“Not much.” Cedric wrinkled his nose and turned away.

Eric grabbed a vial of red liquid and swallowed it all in one, big gulp. His face turned a bright shade of purple and, as he reached up to cover his mouth, he let out a thunderous belch. They all burst out laughing, even Eric.

“Pardon me. A little too much ridickia, I guess.” He slapped the side of his leg and laughed again.

Flossie called them to bed. Despite their groans of disapproval, she ushered them all into a big room with beds for each of them. She strolled to the door, turned and puckered her lips, and left them with a kiss on the wind.

Chapter Eleven

Gabriel shifted, stirring from a deep sleep. Zigzag dashed this way and that, barking and chasing a squirrel. Something tickled Gabriel’s chest, but when he looked down, nothing was there. A piercing alarm sounded out and Gabriel snapped his head up. His gaze fell on Zigzag, shaking the squirrel caught between her teeth. Every time Ziggy shook the squirrel, an unnatural scream rang out, loud as a foghorn. “No, Ziggy!” Again, something tickled his neck.
A bug
?

Gabriel bolted upright, shaking off his crazy dream. Cedric whipped his hand back from Gabriel’s neck, and threaded his fingers together on his lap where he kneeled beside Gabriel’s bed. The blaring alarm continued to sound out, and Gabriel realized it wasn’t just a part of his dream. “What’re you doing?”

“I was coming to wake you,” Cedric yelled. “Don’t you hear the alarm?”

“Duh. Of course I hear it.” Gabriel jumped up. He tucked his necklace back under his shirt, wondering if Cedric had been spying on him while he slept, trying to sneak a look at his crystal. He rushed beside Brent and Piper, already gazing out the window.

Eric charged into their room, short of breath. “Come quickly. You’re not safe here.”

“What’s happening?” Piper squealed. “What’s the siren for?”

“A gruock is loose in Ericville! We have to capture it. I’ll bring you to a secure room.”

Gabriel headed toward Eric. “A gruock? How?”

“Let’s kill it. I’ll help you set it on fire,” Brent yelled, looking at his hands, which turned redder by the second.