(no subject)

20.

The doors opened and the Muzac was playing something by Celine Dione.

“This guy really is evil,” David thought.

It seemed that the room was bare. There was some slight attempt to put some abstract art on the walls, but nothing that looked like it belonged here.

The long and cold room seemed to go on for forever, till it gave less of a stylish look and gave way to a spotless barn feel.

Even the boys realized the room must mirror the man who worked there. Rich and empty.

There, behind a desk that served no purpose other than separating the man from anyone else in the room, was the man.

Vane was dressed like he was about to lead an Evangelical Revival. With his hair swept back in an attempt to make it look thicker than it had ever been, his eyes were covered by mirror lensed dark glasses.

He came from behind the desk and walked with his hand out to Colonel Stonedragon, who took the hand like the moldy fish it was, and gave it a single shake before withdrawing his own and fighting the urge to wipe it on something.

“So nice to meet you, Colonel,” he said, while turning his attention to the boys, “And, here is the young man we are all so interested in.”

He held his hand out to Mickey and the boy instinctively moved behind his father.

“I understand, this can all be a little overwhelming,” he said in a sotto whisper, “To be honest, for business purposes, it was built that way.”

He took a breath, realized his wheels were spinning, and moved back around to his side of the desk.

“Well, I’m sure you want to know . . .” Vane began.

“Mr. Vane,” Colonel Stonedragon interpreted, “I think we can save each other quite a bit of time, and save you a deal of trouble if you will let me cut in here.”

Vane was taken aback by the abruptness of this, but deferred without thought. He sat and looked up intently.

“If you will check your stock report . . .”

Vane turned a computer screen to him and pecked a few keys with a bit of urgency.

“. . . you will find that your stocks have, in all cases, lost at least 75% of their value within the time of this meeting.”

Vane’s eyes stared up disbelievingly.

At that moment a man who must be some kind of assistant rushed in, and bent down to whisper into Vane’s ear.

“That man will be informing you that the three nuclear reactors you just acquired in Chechnya have . . .”

“Vanished,” said an awestruck Vane.

“And every satellite upon which you base your business are off line.” Colonel Stonedragon said in a rather matter of fact tone.

Mickey almost felt sorry for the multimillionaire.

“All of these things can be returned in an hour,” The Colonel informed him, “If and when you give me your word that any influence you might have taken in this boy or any of his family ends, now and forever, before we leave this room. And said case continues from this point until an hour past doomsday.”

Vane was sitting behind the desk with his head in his hands, looking a little like a student who is about to be sent to the principal’s office.

“How . . . ?” he began to ask, but when he saw the look in the Englishman’s eyes, he stopped.

“Then, we are agreed?” The Colonel asked.

Vane just nodded his head in total defeat.

With military precision the Colonel turned on his heal and led the three members of his company back to the elevator.

Mickey glanced back to the desk and saw the powerful man behind it taking a large glass of something the boy took to be liquor and down it in one shot.

Mickey noticed he didn’t call anyone, or talk to his assistant.

“A guy that rich with no one to talk to when he feels so bad,” The boy thought, “You’d think he would have spent some of his money making some friends.”

The elevator doors opened and the quartet left Vane to his world.

(c) 2005 by C. Wayne Owens

(no subject)

21.

The boys were nearly giggly all the way down that elevator ride.

It had been such a big thing, and yet it was done without anyone getting hurt.

His father was not smiling as much as either boy thought he should be, but they were not aware of any frowning. It just seemed that he was somewhere else, thinking about something else.

The Colonel seemed more interested on something on his coat sleeve that he kept trying to dust off. Perhaps it was more of a habitual movement, since he didn’t seem to be expending a lot of conscious effort towards that end.

The ride was silent, followed by a similar exit from the building.

Instead of going to their own car, the boys and their father moved back to the limousine and followed the Colonel in.

“Now, boys, I must tell you a few facts that will finish our business today.” They were informed. “Actually, Benjy, the younger boy is the only one who needs to know this.”

David looked more than hurt by this. His father seemed slighted, but it wasn’t immediately obvious whether it was the sanctioning of one son over the other, or the use of his first name.

With a bit of angst, he ushered David out of the car.

“There is nothing that you’re gonna tell me,” burst out from Mickey’s lips, “That I’m not going to tell David!”

The boy jumped out of the car and tried to join his father and brother.

“Hey, kid,” David said, “You got something coming to you. I’ll always be your brother, but I’m not part of this thing.”

Mickey ran into his brother and seemed to try to push through him. When he pushed with all his might an unexpected thing happened.

David took off.

David flew up at least 20 feet in the air. He then floated down with the softness of a landing snowflake.

Everyone was silent, even the Colonel who stood just out of his car.

“Did you . . .?” David shot at Mickey.

“Not me.” The little boy laughed.

“Dad,” the older boy turned to his father, “Hold me down.”

The father took his son’s hands and the boy’s feet lifted off the ground as if he were being picked up by a giant fisherman in the sky, pulling up the days catch, if the days catch were David’s shoes.

His feet came down again and both boys were laughing.

“You did it!” Mickey laughed.

“By myself!” David agreed.

“Then, we must talk to both of you,” Colonel Stonedragon said, while looking at his pocket watch. “And I have a flight home in two hours, so we had best get to this.”

He seemed a bit peeved, but not really angry.

So now the two brothers, holding hands in congratulatory grasp, entered into the motor coach.

When they were seated the Colonel spoke.

“The world you have known, its history, its expectations, have all changed.” He began. “The world of magic, myth and possibility has just become your realm and it welcomes you.”

In the next hour they would find out just how much of the world of the Arabian Nights and Gulliver could have been published in National Geographic.

(c) 2005 by C. Wayne Owens

(no subject)

22.

After pouring himself another cup of tea, the Colonel set to the task of informing his new charges of many details their father already knew.

“I, along with all the Stonedragons before me,” he began, “Head a confederation that calls itself ‘The Inheritors,” a title you will soon understand.”

The boys looked up to their father, who gestured for them to listen.

“Your mother was one of the most gifted and talented members we had ever been thrilled to add to our ranks, until the day when she . . . left us.”

“Was Dad . . .” Mickey began, but the Englishman continued for him.

“Your father was not one of us. He, is, however, a member of another group no less mythic or regarded than are we. But that is a tale for him to tell you, and not I.”

The boys looked again to their father and got a slightly blushing repeat of his previous gesture.

“In the days before man was wise enough or civilized enough to conceive of creating a history, there were Inheritors,” the Colonel began again.

“In a time before any of us can conceive there were creatures that came to Earth, some from other worlds, some from other dimensions and, I am sure, some from realms we cannot even imagine. These were the Gods and demons that litter the mythologies of the world. If you have studied myths in school . . .”

Both boys nodded, with Mickey being the more enthusiastic of the two.

“You remember the Norse, Greek, Roman, Egyptian gods and monsters, some of these at least were of the class I mentioned. Others were not.

“But those who were flesh, albeit un-Earthly flesh often . . .” he looked slightly uncomfortable at this juncture, “Found human women who they . . . fancied and . . .”

“They mated with humans” Mickey said, “Especially the Greek Gods, Zeus was a regular . . .”

“Yes,” the Colonel interrupted, “You know of Hercules?”

“He was the son of Zeus,” David jumped in, making sure no one thought he was ignorant of the subject.

“He was an Inheritor,” the Colonel stated.

“He got super power from being the son of a god?” Mickey asked.

“It can be passed down through either side of the linage, but yes, that is essentially what happens,” Came the answer.

“For an example, the Stonedragon family has been around for millennia, but due to the secret nature of the Inheritors no one outside of a select group even knows we exist.”

“What’s you superpower?” Mickey prodded.

The Englishman heaved a sigh that showed he was not used to dealing with young people.

“My family members, for the most part, have had the ability to cede their consciousness into any inanimate object and animate it.”

“Like the head of your cane?” Mickey jumped in.

“Yes,” the Colonel agreed, “Other examples from history include the Colossus of Rhodes.”

He looked for a moment at the boys and then added, “Well, you don’t think they built a huge statue of a warrior there to just stand and scare off invaders, do you?”

Both boys shook their heads as though they really knew what the Colossus of Rhodes was.

“And the Trojan Horse!”

Ah, here was one they knew.

“Full of Greek soldiers to sneak into Troy!”

“Poppycock!” the Colonel raucously answered, “A handful of soldiers to take a city that huge and fortified? Now talk about the confusion and chaos caused when this giant horse comes to life in the middle of the city and crashes through the gates allowing the Greeks in! But, the story teller had a point to make. ‘Beware Greeks baring gifts!’ Now, that was a story that sold.”

The military man saw he had let himself get more caught up in his story than he had intended.

“But, we inheritors come in two castes,” he returned to his former low key tone, “One, like my family, who pass a trait on down the line. The other group, like that of your mother, can send the ability to present power in a random set of ways. That more than one member of the family got power is not unusual. Many times four or five children can occur who present different forms of power in each child.”

“We have taken you under our protection,” Stonedragon said, “All we ask of you is that we give you a small amount of training and education. Then you can do as you wish with your abilities.”

The doors to the coach opened again, and they were along side the family car. How the huge car had moved so motionlessly that the boys were not aware that they had even started the engine, was beyond them.

“If you agree, as your mother and father already have, we will begin your training in a month at a location decided on later.”

He held out an outrageously large hand for the boys to shake.

Both looked at their father and he nodded back.

The boys shook the Englishman’s hand and then left the car.

Behind them they heard their father say, “Thank you Justin.”

They saw the two men shaking hands, and then heard their father say, “And say hello to your grandmother for me.”

The Colonel smiled, and then looked just the tiniest bit uncomfortable.

The boys made a mental note to add this to the long, long list of things they were going to have to ask their father about on the way home.

“She was something to see when she danced back during the war,” Benjy muttered to himself.

That question suddenly moved high up on the list.

(c) 2005 by C. Wayne Owens