“Give me the machetes and get ready to run for the beach when I give the word.” Moses and Alex appeared too tired to argue. They surrendered the long blades with barely a word of protest.
“Whatever happens, don’t try to help me. I want you two to get Trinity home safely. The thing that matters most to me is that the three of you survive, and hopefully continue on the path my grandfather set for me.” He slid his rucksack off his shoulder and handed it to Trinity. “I wish I had time to explain, but what’s inside might be of more importance than any of us could imagine.”
“I understand.” Trinity’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. She kissed him gently and then stepped back. “Give ‘em hell, big boy.”
Stone grimaced and turned to face the last Venus flytrap. Its mouths opened and snapped closed again only feet from where he stood.
“Ready?” He tensed and then leapt forward, whirling the machetes in a blur of flashing steel. He slashed and parried, slicing through the gaping maws. He moved on instinct, his muscles flowing into the forms of the sword dances he had learned from the Tibetan monks. The attack slowed, and he called out to his friends, “Now!”
The flytrap sprang back to life and Stone moved like a caravan guard, putting his body and blades between the predator and his friends. The spikes scored his flesh as he fought with concentrated fury. Behind him, Trinity shrieked and Alex cursed loudly. Stone moved toward the sound, hacking away. One of the mouths snapped closed inches from his knee, and he dodged, slamming into the rock ledge. He wouldn’t last much longer.
“We’re through!” Moses shouted. “Come on!”
Stone dove forward toward the base of the deadly plant, rolled, and came up on the balls of his feet. He leapt toward the beach and the last remaining mouth snapped closed on empty air where his foot had been an instant before. He felt sand beneath him and cool salt air against his cheeks and he knew he was free.
Trinity ran to embrace him, but pushed him away.
“You’re all bloody,” she said. “Let me see.” He permitted her to inspect his wounds, and she soon proclaimed him fit for travel. “Nothing too serious.” Her countenance suddenly darkened. “Alex is another story.”
A few feet away, Alex lay on the sand while Moses bound Alex’s wrist with strips of cloth he’d torn from his shirt. Blood soaked the fabric. Stone’s heart fell at the sight.
“He’s gonna need a tourniquet,” Moses said. “That thing done bit his hand clean off.”
Stone knelt alongside his friend. “Alex, I’m so sorry. I don’t have the words.”
Dazed from the shock of his wound, Alex looked up at him through glassy eyes. “It’s all right,” he grunted. “I’ve always wanted a hook hand. Like the pirates we used to pretend to be down at the river when we were kids.”
Stone almost managed a smile.
“Just wrap me up and let me rest while you figure out our next move.”
“I think the next move is obvious,” Trinity said.
All around lay the wreckage of various ships, boats, and rafts. Stone recognized a Viking longboat, a Phoenician hippoi, even a Civil War-era ironclad — all victims of the Triangle, swept to this place by whatever mysterious forces controlled this part of the sea.
“I think that one will fit the bill.” He pointed to a wooden lifeboat that sat on the shore as if left there just for them. The craft appeared to be in immaculate condition: the rudder and oars were in place, and its white paint gleamed in the sun. A red flag with a white star was emblazoned on each side of the stern — the emblem of White Star Line, the oceanic navigation company. Above the flag on the port side was the word “Liverpool.” On the starboard side…
“SS Titanic,” Trinity whispered.
“Well, I’ll be John Brown,” Moses murmured.
Alex opened his eyes and squinted at the boat. “I hope that isn’t an omen.”
“The ship sank, but this boat made it all the way here,” Stone said. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”
An hour later, their boat, still anchored off the coast, appeared on the horizon.
“Almost there,” Alex murmured. He lay slumped against the gunwale while Trinity manned the rudder, and Stone and Moses hauled at the oars.
“Well, Mister Brock Stone,” Trinity began, “what are you going to do when we finally make it home? Going to disappear again?”
Stone shook his head. “Not exactly, but I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot of traveling in the future.” He described what he had seen in the cave, finishing with his conclusion that some undiscovered…power, for lack of a better term, posed a threat to the world. “I don’t know what that threat is, or what it all means, but my grandfather clearly took it seriously, and he believed I could do something about it.” He turned to Trinity. “I guess this means you won’t be seeing much of me.”
“Not so fast.” She raised her index finger. “I’m in this now. Where you go, I go.”
“Same goes for me,” Moses said.
“I’ll lend a hand.” Alex raised his bandaged stump. “Wait, I don’t seem to have one to spare.”
Despite his reservations, Stone had to laugh. Whatever faced him in the future, it was good to know he wouldn’t be alone.
Books by David Wood
Dourado
Cibola
Quest
Icefall
Buccaneer
Atlantis
Ark (forthcoming)
Freedom (with Sean Sweeney)
Hell Ship (with Sean Ellis)
Splashdown (with Rick Chesler)
Dead Ice (with Steven Savile)
Liberty (with Edward G. Talbot)
Electra (with Rick Chesler- forthcoming)
Oracle (with Sean Ellis)
Changeling (with Sean Ellis- forthcoming)
Into the Woods (with David S. Wood)
Callsign: Queen (with Jeremy Robinson)
Dark Rite (with Alan Baxter)
The Zombie-Driven Life
Arena of Souls
You Suck
The Silver Serpent
Keeper of the Mists
The Gates of Iron (forthcoming)
The Impostor Prince (with Ryan A. Span- forthcoming)
About the Author
David Wood is the author of the popular action-adventure series, The Dane Maddock Adventures, as well as several stand-alone works and two series for young adults. Under his David Debord pen name he is the author of the Absent Gods fantasy series. When not writing, he co-hosts the Authorcast podcast. David and his family live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visit him online at www.davidwoodweb.com.