Catching Moonlight (Man Season) (8 page)

“Why? What do you want here?”

“I’m only curious, Toby. The legend
is true, isn’t it?”

“Of course not!”

“Don’t try to lie about it. I sat up
last night once my head stopped throbbing. I noticed the tablets on the
shelves. I studied language at university … the ancient Greek languages,
mostly, so it was easy for me to read the tablets. You must know what you have
there. It’s a goldmine of knowledge!”

Toby glanced at
Dio
,
afraid. He returned a sure, unworried gaze.

“I have been studying the tablets for
a long time. I consider myself to be their guardian.”

“I see. That explains how my hands
magically dissolved through your shoulders as I was falling last night. You are
a sorcerer.”

“I wouldn’t call myself that.”

“Well, I would. Don’t you realize the
power you have at your disposal? You could rule the Earth if
those
spells
are real!”

“I don’t want to rule the Earth.”

“But you do want to break the spell
Hera
cast over you, eh?”

Toby and
Dio
looked at him with blazing eyes.

“What would you know about that?”

“I read the tablets. I spent the
entire night pouring over them. I haven’t slept at all. I learned about you and
your mother and Zeus. It’s all there. And I think I can help you, for a price.”

“What price?”

“I want wealth. Give me the spell to
get it, and I will break the one that binds you to the temple.”

“We can’t trust him,
Dio
. Don’t listen to him.”

“You can trust me. I never would have
suggested gutting this temple if I’d known what was here. These tablets are a
priceless resource! But the sea air is destroying them. If someone doesn’t do
something soon, they will be gone.”

“What would you do with them?”

Stephan leaned closer to
Dio
. “I would catalog them, and file them on a computer,
and maybe store printed copies in a safer place, like a bank vault or a
university. They must not be allowed to vanish.”

“Maybe they should be,” Toby argued.
“Once
Dio
is free, we should crumble the tablets.
They hold too many secrets that could give bad people the power to ruin lives!”

“Bad people?
Is that what you think I am?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, Toby, I am merely a fool. But I
can see the importance of saving the information these tablets have. Can’t
you?”

“I can,”
Dio
nodded. “You say all you want is the wealth spell. It’s a simple spell that
many people, good and bad, have used through the centuries. What you do with
that wealth once you receive it is your own affair. I say we let him do as he
asks, Toby. I will watch him.”

“But what if he uses a spell on you,
Dio
? You can’t watch him day and night!”

“I have ways. He won’t pull anything
over on me.”

“Fine.
I can go to my village, have a big
boat here by tonight to haul away the tablets.”

“Oh, no, I can’t agree to that!”
Dio
stood, walked to the open door in the stones. “If you
want to catalog the tablets, you will do it here.”

“Yes, and you have to learn the spell
to set
Dio
free first!” She stood, joined
Dio
. “I told you we couldn’t trust him.”

Stephan thought a moment. “You’re
right. It’s better if I stay here. I’ll call my office, to let them know I’m
taking some time off, so they won’t come looking for me. My cell phone is on my
boat. I’ll have to go down and get it.”

“I’ll get it for you,”
Dio
said. He put his hands together and concentrated. A
white light escaped them, flew out the apartment door. It returned minutes
later with a duffel bag.
Dio
handed it to Stephan.

“Amazing!
A man could use these powers for
great things, if he had the chance.”

“Sadly, most use them only for
selfish reasons.”

“I honestly don’t think I would.
Sure, I want money and a nice lifestyle but beyond that I have no interest in politics
or power plays. I have realized I am a simple man who still loves the ancient
language of my people. If I could spend the rest of my days studying these
tablets and cataloging them, I’d be happy.”

“Then that’s what you’ll do! Come
on!”

Toby and Stephan followed
Dio
down into the cavern. The brilliant sunlight was
reflected from the grotto, creating mesmerizing patterns of bright and dark on
the walls.

Dio
came to a chest sitting upon a
shelf. He drew a deep sigh, and unlocked it. Inside was a tablet more composed
than the others, as if great care had been taken to preserve it. He handed it
to Stephan.

“This spell will release me. Please
study it carefully, and
do
not change one syllable of
its prose, or it won’t work.”

“I’m honored that you would trust me
with this,
Dio
. I promise I will follow it
faithfully.”

“I’ll take that,” a familiar voice
said. They swirled round to see Kosmas standing on the stairs. He was holding a
rifle.

“Kosmas, are you insane?”

“No, Toby, I have finally come to my
senses. After we moved here I began to realize that I have lived a stupid, hard
life. At night I would lie awake and wonder about the spells in this place,
imagining what a man like me could do if I had power. But I let my devotion to
Aella
blind me. I thought she might not love me if I stole
the tablets, and too, I could not read them. A few times while
Dio
slept I came down here and tried. But I have been
listening to you three. Now that you have someone who can translate the spells
I can use him to make my wishes come true!”

“And what do you wish for, Kosmas?” a
woman’s voice asked.
Aella
appeared at the top of the
stairs.

He lowered his gaze – but not the
rifle – as he stepped carefully to the cavern floor.

“I want my share of the world. I want
to give you beautiful things and let you live a life of luxury. You have waited
on others for far too long.”

“Did I once complain about being a
servant?”

“No, you’re not the kind who would,
though deep in your heart I know you despise those who ordered you about.”

“I didn’t. I loved them, like my own
family! You don’t know me, Kosmas. After twenty years, you still do not know
me.”

Her eyes swelled with tears.

“Kosmas, put down the weapon,”
Dio
demanded. “You can’t force Stephan to help you.”

“I can.
Cristos
,
give me that tablet!”

“Why?” Toby walked nearer; he raised
the rifle, she stopped. “What do you want with that spell?”

“I want to crush the tablet, so
Dio
will never break free! He has been a wedge between
Aella
and me since the day we met! She could never love me
the way she loves him …”
Aella
shook her head
fiercely but he waved her off. “Don’t deny it! You have denied it for all this
time but whenever I see you look at him I know you still love him! I was second
best, if that! He should suffer here forever! Hand that tablet to me!”

He lunged for Stephan.
Aella
screamed.
Dio
drew up a
ball of white fire and slung it towards Kosmas. It enveloped him in a stinging
cloud. He began to moan in pain.

“Damn you, boy! Get it off of me!” He
dropped the rifle, ran for the grotto.

“No,
Dio
,
please, stop him! Don’t let him jump!”

Aella
covered her face with shaking hands.
Toby hurried up the stairs to comfort her.

Dio
swept his arms up, creating a
whirlwind that caught Kosmas and vanquished the cloud. It spiraled toward the
edge of the cavern, flew over the glistening waters of the grotto then landed
him back firmly on the stone floor. Stephan grabbed the
rifle,
threw it into the water.

Aella
ran to
Kosmas,
examined him with desperate hands. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” he grumbled.

“Fool! How could you raise a gun
towards these people? What has come over you?”

“This jealousy has simmered for
twenty years. I guess it finally broke loose. I’m sorry,
Aella
,
I’d rather die than see the look of disappointment in your eyes.”

“Get up! Apologize to Toby and
Stephan then come up to the house.”

“This is a serious offense,
Aella
,” Stephan said. “Shouldn’t he go to jail?”

“He didn’t mean to harm anyone, I’m
sure of that. But we’ll leave today if you think we should, Toby.”

“No, just take him up to the house
and check on my mom. We have unfinished business here.”

Aella
nodded, helped Kosmas to his feet.
She paused, looked softly at
Dio
.

“Bless you, my dearest. I hope you
come safely through the spell. But if not, I’ll meet you in Heaven, eh?”

He smiled, took her hand. Kosmas
placed his on theirs. Then they slowly walked up the steps.

Toby breathed deeply; the time had
come.
Dio
was about to be released. But what if it
killed him? How could she live knowing she’d never see him again in this
lifetime?

Stephan read over the spell silently,
he closed his eyes, concentrating.
Dio
clasped Toby’s
hand.

“Wait! Please! Maybe we shouldn’t do
this!
Dio
, I want you to be free but not if it means
we can’t be together! I know it’s selfish but I can’t live without you now!”

He kissed her. “Whatever happens, we
have shared a love that few others have known. I’m grateful to you for giving
me that. Kiss me again?”

She slipped into his pale arms,
touched her lips to his. Then they gazed into each other’s eyes, holding tight
for dear life. Stephan read the spell, slowly, carefully, pronouncing each word
with a revered refrain. Toby clung to
Dio
, fearful
that he would disintegrate in her arms. Seconds passed then minutes – but he
did not change, or disappear. Nothing happened.

“I knew it!”
Dio
shouted. “It never works! Others have tried but it never works!”

He laid his head upon Toby’s
shoulder, dejected. She stroked his hair, trying to calm him.

“Maybe Stephan pronounced something
wrong?”

“No, no, it was perfect! I should
have known!
Hera
cursed me forever! I cannot break
free!”

Stephan studied over the tablet. “I
think the key lies in a passage here. It says the curse can be broken by
Hera
or her descendents. I am not her descendent, of
course.”

Toby gasped. “Gregory was. Did he
ever …”

“Yes, he tried to break the spell
three times … it didn’t work with him either. I guess I have to give up and
accept what I am.”

Stephan puzzled over their words.
“Gregory was a descendent of
Hera
? Impossible!”

“It’s true.
Dio
found evidence of it here in these tablets.”

Stephan went to the shelves, began to
read, and whisper to himself.
Dio
gently shook loose
from Toby’s
hug,
walked to the cavern’s edge and
stared into the grotto.

“At least I am not alone.”

She eased up behind him, took his
hand. “You’ll never be alone as long as I’m alive.”

The emerald eyes grazed hers, the
sorrow almost unbearable. Toby started to cry.

“
Shh
!
Don’t
worry,” he said, lifting her chin up with two fingers.
“We’ll have a good life together.”

“But you wanted to be free. And I
wanted that for you, too, even if it meant I’d lose you.”

“You know, I had this fantasy that
I’d be set free and we’d sail over the
Mediterranean
in a big white boat. Then we’d go
take a look at all those big cities and mountains and oceans that I read about
in my books. It was a good dream, but nothing more.”