“Are we in danger?” a soft voice whispered. Trinity had edged up alongside him and now looked at him with concern brimming in her brown eyes.
Stone shrugged. They were outnumbered and outgunned, despite the natives’ primitive weapons, but Malik hadn’t disarmed him or his companions. Surely if he meant them ill, he would have deprived them of their best means of defending themselves. “We’re okay so far,” he finally said. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of this.” He forced himself to meet her gaze, willing her to believe that of which he was not quite certain himself.
When they reached the pyramid, he was surprised when Malik did not lead them down into its depths, but instead turned right and ushered them into a walled garden. Here, among a grove of orange trees, a tall, broad-shouldered man stood waiting.
Like some of the others Stone had seen, this man had grey eyes and skin only a few shades darker than his own, though his black hair and wide nose and forehead gave testament to the native part of his ancestry.
Malik gave this man the same bob of the head he’d made when meeting Stone’s companions. “Akente,” he began, “these people have come here…” He paused. “They say they were sent here by Samuel Stone.”
Akente did a double-take, then smiled and approached them. Unlike most men Stone encountered, Akente was almost his equal in size. When the man offered his hand to shake, Stone felt his powerful grip and knew he would be a dangerous adversary.
“I am Akente.” His smile was friendly, but his eyes told a different story, though Stone couldn’t be sure what that was. Suspicion? Amusement, even?
“Brock Stone.”
“Ah, I knew you were a Stone the moment I laid eyes on you,” Akente said.
“How could you know that?” Trinity asked.
Now, Akente’s smile finally reached his eyes.
“Because I am his uncle.”
23- The Revelation
“My uncle?” Stone didn’t need Akente’s nod of the head to know it was true. Clearly, his grandfather had sired a son while on the island.
“Just so,” Akente said. “My mother was immediately taken with this exotic stranger, and though he remained with us only a short time, it was time enough.”
“Did he marry her?” Trinity’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink and she stole an unreadable glance in Stone’s direction.
Akente laughed. “I am afraid that when it comes to choosing a mate, we do not share your society’s institutions, nor your peculiar reservations about what is, to our minds, a very natural act.”
Trinity’s face burned scarlet, while Alex and Moses turned away before she spotted their smiles.
“Can you tell me anything about the time my grandfather, your father, spent here?” Stone asked.
Akente wiggled his elbow in what Stone took to be equivalent to a shrug. “A little bit. But my mother can tell you more.”
“She’s alive?” No sooner had the words passed her lips than Trinity brought her hand to her mouth. “I am so sorry. I only meant, since Stone’s grandfather is dead…”
“I understand,” Akente said, smiling graciously. “My mother was young, barely a woman, when my father came here. She is old now, of course, but she still has her mind and her spirit. I will take you to see her if you wish.”
“Please,” Stone said.
Akente led them out of the garden and out toward the outskirts of the city. As they walked, Moses fell into step with Stone.
“You sure this ain’t a trap?” he whispered.
“I’m sure it doesn’t matter,” Stone replied. “If it comes to a fight, we’re in bad shape.”
Moses nodded, clearly unsatisfied with the answer.
Akente halted at a low stone building. “This is my home. Wait here, please.” He disappeared through an arched doorway, returning moments later. “Please come inside. We have food and drink for you.” He made a slight bow and swept his arm toward the doorway like a maître d’ showing guests to their table.
The flat-roofed house consisted of one large room. Sunlight shone in through open windows all around. Stone noted there were no windowpanes, only thick curtains woven of some tough fiber, drawn back to let in the light. The walls were coated in a stucco-like substance and painted in brightly-colored murals depicting scenes from nature. A sunrise decorated the East wall and a sunset the West, while the north wall was a starry night and the south a stormy sky. Woven blankets lay on the stone floor, encircling a crackling fire. Beyond, covered in a fur blanket, a dark-skinned, silver-haired woman reclined against a pile of cushions.
“You are welcome here.” Her strong voice resonated through the chamber. She gestured with a leathery hand toward the blankets and Stone and his friends lay their packs down and took seats on the blankets. “I understand you are Samuel Stone’s grandson,” she said as soon as Stone’s backside hit the floor.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied.
Her sharp eyes narrowed. “What is that word?”
“Sorry,” Stone began, “where I grew up, it is a term of respect for an adult woman.”
She considered this for a moment. “In Ogygia, we are known as we are known. You will call me Talisa. Now, tell me why you have come here and why you brought weapons with you.”
“We brought the weapons because we did not know what dangers we might encounter,” Stone said.
“A good thing, too, considering we met dinosaurs along the way,” Alex interrupted.
The woman frowned and glanced at Akente.
“The stelli,” he said.
“Speaking of them dinosaurs,” Moses said, “how come they don’t come after you? The flying ones, I mean.”
“The pyramid keeps them away,” Talisa said.
“How does that work, exactly?” Alex asked.
“We do not know. The knowledge came to us from lost travelers many summers ago, but they did not pass the knowledge down to us.”
“The stelli do not approach our valley any longer,” Akente said. “Save for the occasional youngling, and they turn and flee when they come too close.”
“Have any ever broken through?” Stone asked.
“Rarely. And they die in the attempt.” Akente smiled.
“Does the pyramid keep the Varri away as well?” Trinity asked.
“No,” Talisa said simply.
“The Varri are human.” Stone said. “I imagine any power that would drive them away would have the same effect on the people of Ogygia.”
“You have not told me why you have come here.” Talisa’s voice cracked like a whip.
Stone sat up straight, like a reprimanded schoolboy. “My grandfather wanted me to come here. He left me a map and a message that I must find the island or I would be in danger.” Stone paused. “I can’t say for certain what that danger is, though men have been trying to kill me ever since his death. I can only assume that someone found out about his time on the island and wants whatever he discovered here.”
Talisa remained silent, but Stone noticed that she no longer looked him in the eye.
“Can you help me? Do you know what he discovered while he was here? What could make it worth me endangering my life to make this trek? And why are men trying to kill me?”
Talisa gazed at the fire. “I do not know what he discovered.”
Stone’s spirits fell at her pronouncement but lifted at her next words.
“But I know where he found it.” She looked at him with a sad smile. “Samuel spent his days exploring as much of the island as he dared. And he spent his night with me,” she added with a grin that made Trinity shift uncomfortably. “The night before he left, he told me of a cave he discovered. He called it a…” She frowned and pressed her fingers to her temples. “What is your word? Revolt? No. A revelation. He said what he found there could change the world…or destroy it.”