Adventures of Jacko the Conjurer by Jamie Ott (drm ebook reader txt) 📖

he could see most clearly the reddish outline of the sky outside the summit.

He got closer to the edge and looked down. Below was covered in cooling lava and ashy silt that stretch for miles until it touched the sky.

If he was to suffer, to be beaten so severely, like the first conjurer, than why was he there, safe, fed and well. How much more of this were the gods going to allow?

Then across the sky, he saw dark shadowy circles flit about, followed by light white-ish ones. They danced around each other as they fell to the ground.

More and more shadows came, like rain. Some black danced with white while some white danced with white, and occasionally, black with black.

Jacko’s heart sped, as it could only mean one thing.

The cliff rumbled violently.

Blasts sounded across the sky. White flashes of light flashed and died, repeatedly.

He backed away from the edge into a tree, rapping his head violently.

A dozen items flew down, bouncing off his head, hurting him more. He looked up and saw it was a tree loaded with oranges and orange blossoms.

He picked up as much as he could and returned to camp.

Meeting of the Two

Chapter 11

The ground didn’t stop trembling all the way back to camp. Funny how he’d pleaded to get his part over with, and now that he was close to the action, he was scared.

Uncle Bally and the bats were already back from hunting. Julius was still gone. The bats were suspended over the river, looking at the sky which had become even more blotted with dancing shadows. The war was not only in space, but had reached Earth.

Uncle Bally, who stood at the edge of the river, turned at his approach.

“Did you see the skies?”

The panic soaked his voice like water on a tissue. His eyes were bugged out and his brow furrowed into his head, creating extra lines in his forehead.

“Yes. Try to stay calm because Julius will freak out.”

He dropped the oranges next to the cherries.

“Are we safe?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I think so, as long as the gods can hold them off.”

“Well,” he said in a tone much higher than his normal voice. “I guess it makes sense. This is an important place; they want to conquer it.”

Jacko’s stomach lurched.

“What do you think?”

“I wish I had an answer but I don’t. The gods told me I’d know what to do when the time was right. But I don’t know what to do. I have no instinct. I could fight, and probably do real well, maybe even kill a lot of demons, but I don’t think that’s what the gods want of me.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying go out there and face them,” he said more calmly. “What we need is a plan of escape. They will make it into this bubble of a summit.”

“I think the only safe place for you is heaven, but I don’t have the power to send you there because of the summit.”

“You keep saying send ‘you.’ You have to come with us.”

“I can’t, Uncle. Where ever I go, danger will follow. I can’t hide from gods. They’re always watching.”

The cliff shifted so violently that, both, Uncle Bally and Jacko rolled across the ground. Jacko grabbed onto the tree trunk he’d rolled into and held on tight.

“Now, the only problem is getting you off this mountain. My powers don’t work here, so I’m going back to the temple.”

His knees threatened to buckle as he stood up on the trembling ground.

“Just hold on!” he shouted.

As he ran through the woods, all the trees and bushes shivered and trembled. He knew it wasn’t just the fighting, but the beings that lived there.

Suddenly, gods appeared everywhere.

He exited the woods and saw hundreds of white haired men standing about, watching the sky silently.

He ran up the steps, past them, and into the hall.

More gods stood idly about.

The white tunnel, from before, was open and spinning dizzyingly fast. Large sized men were walking toward the exit: one, a familiar brown haired man in a toga.

“Althenio!”

“Jacko.”

He was just as he remembered, with skin as hard and shiny as alabaster, and onyx-like eyes to contrast.

“What are you doing here?”

“Manlo begged me to come.”

“Please, you gotta help me. My powers don’t work here, and the demons are close to taking the summit. I need to get my uncle and my friends someplace safe.”

“Yes, I know. Manlo begged me to help you. Get him, and your things, and come back. But Jacko, Julius can’t come.”

“What?”

“He’s not who you think he is.”

“Yes, I know you hate us, humans, but he’s my friend. He’s coming too!”

An enormous bluish beam of light flew through the air.

Althenio picked Jacko up, by the collar, and ran out of the hall. When the light beam struck the temple, heat burst out in a shower of bright flames. He covered his eyes to avoid getting hit.

Next moment, he opened his eyes. The entire set of steps and the front of the temple was blown out. White haired gods lay everywhere, bloodied and unconscious.

“You haven’t time to waste. Now, go. I must wait here.”

Jacko ran back down the steps and back to camp.

When he got there, Uncle Bally was missing, and so were the bats.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a red jet coming toward him. He jumped out of the camp just missing getting hit by a few feet.

When the ground stopped rumbling enough so that he could push himself up, he ran through the forest, trying to find any sign of where they might have went.

“Uncle Bally?!” he shouted.

But the ground was so torn up that it was hard to use the skills, he’d taught him, about tracking.

Eventually, he found himself back at the campsite when he noticed that a cluster of leaves were crunched into halves, almost as if someone grabbed it with their fist.

“Uncle Bally!” he said to himself.

Beneath the crunched leaves, he saw drag marks.

From there, it was easy. He tracked a random trail of crushed leaves on broken branches, and drag marks, back to the basin he’d visited Julius at earlier.

There, on the edge of the rocks, was Uncle Bally, tied up. Next to him lay the grand ornamentum.

On the dirt next to the rocks, lumps bounced around inside a brown sack. Jacko knew the bats were there.

Uncle Bally looked up and slightly shook his head, telling him to go away.

Jacko didn’t listen, and ran into the clearing.

Julius was leaning on a tree, swinging Jacko’s sword.

“What are you doing, Julius?”

He flinched.

“What I’m supposed to. I have to save my family.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. You were right all along; I just didn’t want to admit it, but then a man came to me in my dreams. He warned me that they’d be coming down from the sky. Now, they are,” he said, rolling his eyes upward.

“Men have come to me in my dreams, too. That’s why I invited you, because I knew you were like me.”

“I’m not like you, not at all.”

He resumed to swinging the sword, side-to-side.

“Whatever, Julius. Point is the gods are doing this to us. Look, we can talk about this later. Right now, we need to get off this summit.”

“We can’t because we’re natural enemies. I like you and your Uncle, but demon blood runs in my veins.”

“The man in your dreams told you that?” Jacko asked weakly.

Months ago, Lucem told him there was a young demon – his opposite – destined to fight the final battle over Earth. Even though he knew that other forms of life had bread into humanity, like the gods and angels, it still never occurred to him that the demon might be human. Now that he thought about it, it made sense.

“Unlike my demon family, I feel sympathy; they warned that it would cripple me. I want you to know that this doesn’t come easy for me. Like you, I had a rough life, a father who didn’t care, a mother who did everything to protect me and was still lost. Then I found my real family, and it was nice to be a part of something that was like love.”

“Demons don’t love the way humans do, and you’re more human than demon. You may think they care for you but they’ll betray you. Come over to our side. You’ll be rewarded, I promise.”

“Come over to your side and what? Be recycled back into the fountain of youth? While my family goes into the volcano of life, and us never to meet again? Would you make that deal?”

“You’ll meet again, if you want.”

“Yes, in hell, but I want this world. I want Earth.”

“What does it matter?” asked Jacko. “You, me, our family; once we go through the fountain or the volcano, we won’t remember each other anyway. We’ll be starting all over again.”

“That doesn’t work for me. I want what I want, and I want it, now.”

He lunged at Jacko, he darted back.

“That’s hardly fair. You’re using my weapon.”

“I believe in fair fight. You’re way stronger than me, so this is fair.”

He swiped down and left; Jacko bobbed and weaved right.

“I know someone’s been visiting your dreams, and teaching you to fight. Someone visited me, too, only I sucked at it.”

He swiped down and right, missing him by seconds.

“Sword fighting isn’t a demon’s way. We use real weapons, like tridents, but since I haven’t earned mine, as you’ve earned your sword, I figured why not take yours. See how you do without it.”

Julius stabbed forward at his shoulder. Jacko spun around, like in his dream, and pushed him to the ground.

He fell to his knees. Jacko jumped on his back and tried to wrestle the sword from his hand. Julius was much stronger than he let on, for he bucked Jacko, who flew many feet back, and stumbled to the ground.

Julius stood above him with sword raised high. Just as he was about to bring it down, a boot kicked him in the side, making him stumble.

Uncle Bally and the bats had gotten out of their bondage. He, now, stood with his rifle pointed at Julius.

“Drop it, son!” he shouted.

Jacko got up, quickly, and ran to get his bow and arrow, because if Julius was who he said he was, the war would end with his death.

Right as he picked up the bow, a shot exploded. He spun around.

Julius was fine. He held the sword upward. A little ding was in the blade. A look of surprise was in his eyes.

Uncle Bally shot again.

Quicker than he could see, Julius moved the sword lower, to his belly, and blocked the bullet, which ricocheted off and into a tree.

Jacko hurried to ready an arrow when he stabbed the sword, quickly, into his uncle’s gut.

Uncle Bally didn’t even see it coming.

He fell to the ground.

Jacko should have released the arrow, but seeing his uncle get a deadly blow stunned him for a moment. A ringing deafened his ears; a buzzing covered his entire body. His hands shook with rage.

He released the arrow, but missed.

Julius looked at Jacko.

A buzzing sensation ran all over his body again; his arms and legs shook. He looked at his hand and saw that it glowed white. Around his hand, he saw particles moving within and without his skin.

Instinct, or a distant memory, told him what to do next. He raised his glowing hand to the sky and called electrons, and told them to obey him.

Next second, lightning came from the sky. Julius ducked just as it tried to strike him. The ground blew out, covering him in dirt.

“Did you do that?” he shrieked. “They told me you were strong. Well, be ready, because it’s time for me to train. I will see you again!”

He took off running.

Jacko followed him out of basin area, through trembling bushes, and past the orange trees.

He sent several arrows off, all of which missed. Julius was simply too fast.

Then he jumped off the cliff.

Jacko