The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) (16 page)

The opening in the side of the rock had the faint glow around it.  The call resonating from Oberon’s sanctuary was back, urging me to come in and meet my fate.  Simultaneously I felt good and weird about giving in to the pressure.  I looked back at Isa; worry was clear on her behalf.

“I don’t like this Victor, not one bit.  Let’s head back and leave this island for good.”

My promise to the Sphinx prevented me from doing that.  “Sorry Isa, but this is one thing I can’t budge on.  I’m going in there and I’m going to get some answers.”  Doing something that I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of, I took off the chain with the Gem of Babylon attached.  “In case I die in there, you need to take this to my friends.  I can’t let someone like Oberon get his hands on it.”

She looked at the gem with reverence.  “Victor, do you know what you’re giving me?”

Shrugging my shoulders, “I don’t really understand all the complexities of this thing.  Stuff like this is over my paid grade.”  I flashed a smile, still holding the chain out.  “You’re a bright girl, a hell of a lot smarter than me.  You’ll protect it.”

She took the chain and wrapped it around her neck.  “Are you sure you have to do this?”

“Never been so sure about possibly killing myself before.”  I don’t think she thought I was being funny.  “I owe the Sphinx a lot and I owe my family even more.  This bastard did a number to both of them and I’m going in there to collect the debt.”

Marko came stomping out of the forest, blood covering his mouth.  I guess he just ate or something – glad I didn’t have to see that.  Isa ran over to me and gave me one more hug.  “Stay safe in there okay?  I’ll wait two days for you at Pan’s base.  If you’re not back…”

“Assume I’m dead and leave.”

I said it, that way she didn’t have to.  We exchanged one last glance before her and the troll stomped off back into the jungle, leaving me to my thoughts.  I had a silver knife but no bullets in the gun.  Oh well, can’t do much about that.  With a full head of steam, and mainly before I changed my mind, I practically ran into the opening.  The interior was dark, almost too dark to see.

There were no smells, no noises for me to use as markers to follow.  Basically, I stumbled around blindly, using the smooth wall as my guide to go deeper in.  I knew I was going there right way, something in the back of my mind just kept urging me to go forward.  I wondered if Oberon was expecting me.

The path in front of me stopped – literally a wall of stone put an end to my journey.  With no as much as a glow to see, I felt all along the wall, seeing if there was a way to keep going.  I found it in the most peculiar way; there was a round door knob positioned there.  Giving it a turn, sunlight of all things broke through.

I closed my eyes and went through, closing it behind me.  The first thing I noticed was the smell of food, someone was grilling a steak.  As my eyes adjusted to the new setting, I was in a grassy knoll with a singular tree growing as high as the eye could see towards the sky.  One of those little camp grills was over an open flame with two big juicy pieces of meat on top, with the one responsible for the smell tending to it.

The figure was a tad shorter than me, with messy brown hair that came down to a ponytail.  He was wearing a green cloak and I could see a sword hanging off the side.  As he turned around, his beard looked more like a college senior’s attempt to keep it scruffy and his eyes were wild and the same green of the cloak.  No way…

“Don’t just stand there laddie, get over here and help me.”

What he spoke wasn’t English but, like with the Warg inside me, I understood every word.  Second, his accent was as thick as dad’s chili.  “Oberon?”

He let out a short bark-like laugh.  “Yer a smart one for sure.”  I couldn’t really tell what to expect going forward with this creature.  “There’ll be plenty of time ta talk about when the food’s done.  I don’t like ta cook with magic, so grab me a few more logs for the fire.”

Not really sure why I was listening to him, I went over and grabbed three decent sized chunks of wood.  I went over to the campfire and tossed them on, embers flying into the air.  I checked out the slabs of meat, there was almost a nice medium rare.  “Don’t overcook my meal.”

“I’ve been cookin’ steaks for longer than yer flea bitten clan’s been on this planet.  Don’t ye tell me how to work!”

Deciding it was best to give this unusual man some distance, I took a few paces back.  “Why are you cooking us dinner?”

With a knife, he reached down and picked on off the grill.  “Hmmm, perfect.”  Behind him was two round, wooden plates.  He slapped the first steak on the plate and handed it to me.  “Don’t ask questions about generosity.  Just take the damn meat and go.”

I was really too hungry for real food to argue.  I sat on the grass and took out my knife, cutting into the slab of beef.  The first bite was like heaven, spiced and cooked perfectly.

Oberon sat across from me, eating his steak in quiet.  The two of us occasionally looked up at the other, but our stares never lingered long.  At least while there was food on the plate.

I finished mine, scrap and all and sat the plate on the grass.  My host was still eating his, so I took a chance to look around at this world I found myself in.  It was hard to believe that I was still on Neverland, inside the rock formation where I just shot Pan.

“Yer not on Neverland, not right now anyway.”  Shit, what did the Sphinx tell me?  Oberon could break into people’s mind!  I needed to use what I learned.  “Kid, you don’t have the power or the skills to stop me.  My ex-wife, bless her, she barely could fend me off once I learned ta control me magic, contrary ta what she thought.”

“I’m not going down without a fight old man.”  I tried to keep my voice calm and cool.

Oberon seemed amused by my antics.  “There’s much you should probably know before you attempt to avenge yer clan.  Stuff even that silly old Sphinx didn’t know.”

I didn’t feel like I was in immediate threat of attack, so maybe I’d go along with what he had to say.  “Fine, I’m all ears.”

“That’s the problem with ye wolves, ye get so wound up that ye refuse ta listen.”  For a moment the façade of his youth faded into a very old man.  It was only for an instant though.  “What do ye know of the Fae creatures?”

I’d heard the term before, used to describe the Orcs on the island.  I figured it also applied to Marko the troll too.  “Not much if we’re being honest.”

“Forever Ever Land, or Neverland as the vampires call it now, it’s the last ley line that connects the world of the humans to the world of the Fae.  When you entered that door, you fell into the realm of Tir na nOg.”

I didn’t know what that was, but I wanted to go home as quickly as possible.  “This is all fine and dandy, but it’s going nothing to do with why I’m here.”

“Yer here because I cursed that Red clan back in the old days.  Ye want revenge and ye want me to suffer a great death.  I know exactly why yer here.”

He said it in such an offhanded way that I don’t even know if he took me that seriously.  “You seem at ease for someone in this position.”  From the other side of the grassy knoll, a few weird tittering sounds chirped.  What the hell was that?

Oberon turned his head.  “Ignore the faeries, they live ta gossip.”  Shaking his head, “I’m not afraid of ye because ye cannot kill me.  Ye came here on a fool’s errand but ye come nonetheless.”

I was starting to get pissed off.  “You’re smugness about my lack of a threat to you is getting annoying.”

“Yer abilities have nothin’ ta do with it.”  He looked almost sad at my lack of understanding.  “Ye can’t kill me because I’m already dead.”

Did I just hear him right?  “Wait, what?”

“Dead laddie, as in ain’t comin’ back anytime soon.”

He looked rather alive for someone who was claiming to be chilling with the worms.  “Pardon me if I don’t exactly believe you, but you’re standing here talking to me.  Eating steak too.”

He picked up a rock and chucked it at me.  I guess stupidly I thought if he was dead it would pass through me harmlessly.  Nope, the rock bounced right off my skull.  “OWWW!  What the hell did you do that for?”

Oberon seemed rather amused with himself.  “For fun mostly.  I haven’t had a visitor in ages and then you show up.  Thought ye’d been here before, but I guess wantin’ to kill Pan took precedent.”

This was like dealing with a child.  “Seriously, you throw a rock at me because you’re bored?  Why the hell did the Sphinx send me here in the first place?!  You’re already dead!”

“She didn’t know that.  It’s not a secret many live ta tell the tale about.”

This was such a colossal waste of time.  I should’ve followed Isa back to camp and got the hell off this rock.  “Well this has been fun…”

“Ye can’t leave yet laddie.  There’s still much ta tell ye and not much time to do it.”

For the first time there was a sense of urgency in his voice.  “You sure seem to be taking your sweet bippy time telling me anything.”

The illusion of his younger self faded again, showing off the incredibly old man.  This time the fade lasted quite a bit longer before he returned.  “Neverland’s failin’.  The magic holding the ley line open to the Fae is about to collapse and there’s nothin’ to be done.”

“What do you mean the island is failing?  What’s really going on here?”

“Whether she ever knew or not, the Sphinx was the love of my life.  Granted, I made a lot of bad decision with women, but that one always had my heart.”  Was it possible he was mourning?  “I saw the wyrm kill her laddie and with it, my hopes of every tellin’ her how I felt, how truly sorry I am.”  He slumped into the grass again.  “My soul is tired, too tired to carry on.”

Did I feel a tremor below?  “Are you the source of the magic keeping this place together?”

A true smile was given to me.  “That I am.  A long time ago, after I made some more questionable decisions, I came back to this place and gave myself to the ones I worshipped.  When my body failed, they rewarded my devotion with the highest honor – the Gatekeeper.”  He said it like it was the best thing since sliced bread.  “Through me, this portal stayed open, giving the Fae a way to cross over planes.”

I didn’t have to guess this time.  That was a tremor, and a rather big one, I felt under me.  This place was starting to go.  “Hey now old man, you can’t go dying on me like this.”

“My journey’s over Victor Inglewood, but I’m glad ye answered my call.  Before I send you back, I must apologize ta ye.  I cursed your family over a rejected lust and for that, I’m truly sorry.”

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.  I was destined to kill him, to get revenge for centuries of Red’s who suffered this curse.  Yet, “Thank you.”

He wasn’t done.  “I’m also sorry ye were cursed with that foul dog livin’ inside ye.  The Warg is a dangerous beast, one that even myself, Lord of the Dogs, wishes to have nothin’ ta do with.”

“What can I do?  It’s part of me now.”

“Ye do what ye always have.  Be a good man.”

The illusion covering him faded once more.  The ground between us split open, sending hot steam high into the air.  It was obvious I’d be getting nothing else from this visit.  I turned around and hauled ass, back to the door which led me here.

Thankfully it was still there and I booked it.  Going back out, light from the island shone through, giving me a way to escape.  I made it out just in time as the skull looking rock collapsed into a heap of gravel.  The island really was falling apart.

I had no idea where I was in relation to Pan’s camp.  The chase I’d gone on to get here was full of twists and turns.  Knowing which way Isa had gone, I turned tail and began to run.  It didn’t take long for the rest of the island to start falling back into the sea that surrounded it.

I was got the feeling I was chasing my tail.  Nothing looked familiar and the smells of the whole place weren’t giving me any clues.  My only hope was that the straight line I was traveling in was the right one.  There’d be no turning around for me.

Then a sound, a voice.  “Something doesn’t feel right Skylar.”

It was the two Silvers!  Concentrating on them, I picked up their scent!  It’d been there all along, underneath everything on the island.  In my own panic, I missed it.  “Run!”  I shouted it as loud as I can.  “Get back to camp!”

Skylar heard me.  “It’s the Red!  He’s coming this way!”

Those fools didn’t know what was happening.  I saw their outlines in the forest, still standing there.  “The island – it’s collapsing!  Run!”

This time the message was received and they bolted.  Following them, the three of us were able to make it back, not to the camp, but to the beach where Pan’s helicopter was.  Isa and Marko were standing there, along with a second helicopter.

Isa couldn’t believe her eyes.  “Victor!  You’re alive!”

“Get in the helicopter, we gotta go!”  I sprinted into the sand and up to her.  “Oberon was keeping this place afloat.  He’s dead and with it the island is doomed.”

“Go.”  Marko, the big tough troll looked down at us.  “Not your end.”

“Marko, I’m not leaving you here.”  I got Isa’s sentiment, but there was no place for the large creature in either helicopter.

He understood that and pushed her into my chest.  “You save me.  I save you.”  She reached out for him, but the troll ran into the forest, presumably to his doom.

“You two, unless you want to die, let’s go.”  Skylar was already loaded up in Pan’s helicopter.  I looked over at the other one and saw a headless corpse in the pilot’s seat.  I’d had enough of this place.

I jumped up front along with my new vampire friend.  She started pushing buttons and got the blades spinning.  “You know how to fly one of these?  Something doesn’t add up?”

“I have no clue what I’m doing, but sit down and shut up!”  She flipped another switch and everything started shaking.  “Look what you’ve done!  You got me all flustered.”

“Sorry.”  I sat back and held on for dear life.  If someone out there was looking over us, I hoped he was watching right now.

Isa got the machine airborne just in time.  Below us, the land gave way, sending Neverland and all that was still there back into the sea.  I sat there looking at the spot where I’d been stuck for so long in bewilderment.  Trees and debris started floating to the surface, making the area look like a huge shipwreck or something.  I turned my head, not wanting to see what else the water spit back up.  I was afraid it’d be the body of a dead troll I’d come to like.

Caroline and Skylar took a seat on the benches in the back, allowing Isa and me some privacy.  Or maybe they were the ones who wanted privacy.  I wasn’t really sure.  “Hey, sorry about Marko.  I didn’t know him long but he was really cool.”

“If it’s okay with you Victor, I would rather not talk about it right now.”  Every grieved differently, so I respected that.  “What happened with Oberon?  What caused this to happen?”

“Apparently he’d been dead a good long time already and his soul was what kept Neverland afloat.  It acted as some gateway between our world and the world of the Fae.”

“So that’s why Marko ran off.”  Her voice was firm, yet sad.  I looked at her questioningly.  “Trolls are from the Fae world.  With the gateway closed, his life force would fade away.”

“Creatures from that realm are tied to it somehow?”

She shook her head.  “It’s hard to understand for us, but their home is everything.  Without the power from the Fae world, no creature on that island survived.”

That was a sad revelation.  “Well Oberon looked pretty bad when he magic failed him.  He said he had nothing more to live for.”

Isa offered no more.  We were on our way back to England by the looks of it, which made sense as it was the closest place for us to go.  I hadn’t asked her what she was going to do yet.

Caroline stuck her head into the cockpit.  “If it’s not too much to ask, when we return to Britain, we ask that no one needs to know we were here.  We can make it back to Wales on our own.”

“I got no problem with that.”

Isa gave a tiny head movement.  “I too would prefer not to be noticed or seen.  I do better in the shadows than in the spotlight.”

They both looked at me, not asking the question verbally, but curious as to my plans.  “I don’t know what I’ll do.  I’ve been gone for a few months and everyone thinks I’m dead.”

“You have some time to think it over.”  Isa rested her hand on my leg.  “We’ve still got a few more hours until touchdown.”  Then she reached for the chain around her neck, pulling it over her head.  “I think this belongs to you.”