Keeper of the Stones: Black Dragons
Chapter One
Rated for Swearing.
“We’ve got the stone.” Rick strode back and forth, speaking urgently into a mobile. Dust that had been disturbed by his pacing blew across the rocky soil and over his shoes. Shoes which, in hindsight, were more suited to the pavements of London than the fringes of the desert he and his two accomplices now waited in. “Took a while to convince the local witch of the village to part with it,” he continued, “but we’ve got it.”
“Just in time,” muttered another man, sitting on a boulder. As sweat trickled from every pore, he was thankful he’d gotten rid of his blonde mane. “This deadline was too close a call.”
The man with the dark hair scowled at him before turning his attention back to the phone. “Ah, nothing, master. Just Sven grumbling. Um, yes. Yes, we’re all here. Er, okay. Yes, master.”
“Sounds like Rick’s getting pussy whipped,” the third and final man said to the blonde. He stood with a hand held over his eyes, shielding his burnt face from the African sun.
“Aw, I didn’t know they were dating,” Sven replied, swatting at a couple of flies.
“It’s a secret, but wedding bells will be ringing soon.”
“Haven’t got my invite yet.”
“Looks like you’ve been shut out, my brother.”
“Will you two shut up!” Rick snapped, holding the phone away. “I’m speaking with the master, and he ain’t gonna be too happy if I keep asking him to repeat himself. Got that? Sven. Kieran.”
Kieran blew out a lungful of air and gazed at the sky. Not a single cloud was in sight, which made sense. Anything remotely damp in this place dried up like a salt-dusted slug. And by the way the air shimmered like the ground was a radiator going at full-pelt; it was only a matter of time before he got the mother of all migraines. God, the heat was driving him crazy. Which meant Rick nagging like some old woman was not giving him a saintly patience. “I wouldn’t worry, Rick. The master wouldn’t ever get pissed with you. Seeing as you’re his bitch and all.”
Rick jabbed his finger in Kieran’s direction. “Soon I am gonna lose my temper, and you are gonna lose your dick. Am I clear?” When Kieran shrugged, Rick brought the phone back to his ear. “Sorry, master. Yes, yes, I know that. But… Uh huh. Actually, they’re late. Oh. Really?” He wrapped his hand around the phone and said to Sven and Kieran, “Leo’s going to be with the pick-up group when they come for us and the stone.”
“Aw, shit,” Sven groaned. “That creepy weirdo? Fantastic.”
Rick clenched his jaw and dropped his hand. “Yeah, that’s cool,” he said, slowly walking away from Sven and Kieran. “We’re all ready. Sven’s looking after the stone. Master? What’s the deal with this stone? You haven’t sent us to Africa for any other jewel before. It’s just… Yeah. Ah, yes, sorry. No, no. Sorry. Yes, I…”
“Pussy whipped,” Kieran muttered to Sven.
Sven grunted, then looked down at the box he held in one of his hands. “Can’t wait until this is over.”
“Yeah. Air conditioning. A shower.” Kieran grinned. “Paradise.” The smile faded and he glanced at Sven. “Listen, when we get back, if Vara asks, we stayed in a five-star hotel. We had action-packed gun fights with rebels. The village we visited was filled with beautiful, young women and we slept with them all. We clear?”
“Somehow, I don’t think Vara will be jealous about the last point,” Sven commented dryly. “I dunno. I felt for her, actually, when the master wouldn’t let her in on it. Seemed sort of unfair.” He looked down at the box again, and then reached for his leather jacket. As he shoved the box into one of the pockets, he said, “You know what? When this is over, I’m gonna try and get out. Maybe meet a girl. Have kids. Hell, even go to church. I don’t … feel for the Black Dragons any more.”
Kieran blinked stupidly at Sven, who refused to look up from his jacket. “That’s impos-”
“Right.” Rick joined them. “The master said the pick-up’s getting here real soon, so straighten up, ladies. Just hand the box over and jump in the back of the truck. That simple enough for you?”
“How long’s the ride?”
“Excuse me?”
“I gotta take a leak, alright? I don’t wanna be bursting the whole ride home. Hey, sod it. The bushes will do.” Kieran turned his back on Rick and sauntered off towards the thickest clump of bushes. Bushes which looked more like twisted clumps of barbed wire than the lush, thick leaved ones he was used to in England. Hell, they certainly symbolised the cruelty of this dying, godforsaken place.
“Kieran, get back here. The master said no one should wander off anywhere. He wants all of us to wait for the pick-up together.”
“Yeah, and they can wait for me, okay?” Kieran turned back around and nailed Rick with a hard stare. The man growled in frustration and turned away. Kieran took that as a ‘yes’. “Hey, Sven,” he called out. “Could I borrow your jacket?”
“What for?”
“I’ve gotta have toilet paper.”
Sven’s nose crinkled in disgust. “Go to hell.”
“Just messing with you.” Kieran tried to keep from laughing. “But seriously, I don’t care if it’s only over there. You got one in your jacket pocket?” ‘One’ A.K.A a gun. If you went anywhere without the thing, someone was bound to nail you between the eyes.
“Yeah…” Sven was still suspicious, but like a good little boy, he balled the jacket up and tossed it to Kieran. “Left pocket.”
“Thanks,” Kieran grunted, feeling the familiar shape through the leather. “Owe you one.”
“Make it up to me later, baby,” Sven replied with a stage wink, making Kieran laugh.
“Sure thing, Honey.”
As Kieran disappeared behind the bush, Sven spotted a cloud of orange dust rising on the horizon. Something metal caught the sun, blinding him briefly. His curse caught Rick’s attention.
“’Bout bloody time,” he muttered, joining Sven while he automatically touched the gun hanging at his hip. “I’m about to go crazy in this heat.”
The drone of an engine got louder and louder as the pick-up car drove towards them. Several dark-skinned ‘guards’ stared out of the windows at them, their gazes hostile and their hands resting on impressive rifles. Sven thought he saw one with long, tangled hair, but that was impossible with this heat.
A slightly pink-skinned man lazily opened a car door and stepped out, his sandals crunching on the orange ground. Hearts suddenly pounding, Rick and Sven looked into the watchful, pale eyes of Leo.
As Kieran’s trousers hit his ankles, he became aware that on the other side of the bush, something had gone very, very wrong. A familiar burst of sound reached his ears and made the blood in his veins turn to ice. Gunshots.
But that was impossible. Only the pick-up was meant to know where they were, and if it was the pick-up then surely Leo would have kept the situation from turning dangerous? Yet if that was true, then why the hell was Kieran jumping like a cat caught in the middle of a bunch of firecrackers?
“Holy mother of-” Sven was shrieking, but not for long. Another round of gunshots and the sound cut off.
“Oh Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ,” Kieran gasped, feeling the ground he was standing on tip and spin. His mind fogged up and he couldn’t quite track his motions, or what was really happening. There was more hoarse shouting and another, fierce round of fire. Rick? Maybe he had gotten behind Sven’s boulder and was holding them off. On his own. Whatever the hell had happened to the pick-up? This was an assassination.
Kieran’s breath came out in shallow gasps. He jacked up his trousers, not wanting to get nailed in the ass. That simple act took too much effort, as his fingers were sticks of lead and his strength nonexistent.
The mist in his mind began to fog up his vision, and soon the ground knocked the breath from his lungs as he collapsed, unable to balance when the ground wobbled so much.
He shook his head, fighting for control. He was going into shock; he knew the signs. Quick breathing, confusion, dizziness, feeling weak… Hell, he was scoring high with this tick-list.
With numb fingers, he reached for the jacket Sven had given him. He couldn’t be a sitting duck. He needed to do something. Damn, the gun. The gun. Where was the bloody gun?
His heart kicked and jerked in his chest like a bucking bull. Gun shots still rung out, making Kieran feel like it was a chilly fifth of November rather than an oven of a day in Hell.
Finally his fingers wrapped around something smooth and firm. Kieran drew it out to find he was holding the box Sven had put in his jacket.
A stone was not what he needed right now.
Unfortunately, the clasp on the box sprung open and the amber-coloured stone practically leapt to freedom. When his curse sounded louder than it was, Kieran realised silence had fallen.
Rick hadn’t lasted behind that boulder.
He squeezed his eyes shut as his fist closed around the stone. Sven had wanted to get out of the game. Sven had wanted-
“There is no stone here,” screeched a high, shrill voice.
“When you find Kieran, you will find the stone.” The menace that came from the other voice was like the blast of cold air. Similar to the kind that hit you in the face when you opened a freezer. Shivers rolled down Kieran’s back like icy water as he realised who had spoken.
Leo.
Kieran’s grip on the stone tightened, and he squeezed his eyes shut even more. He could feel the tentacles of Leo’s mind reaching out, finding Kieran. They wrapped around him until Kieran couldn’t move, could barely think. In his mind’s eye, Kieran saw Leo come around the bush and stare down at him with those pale, soulless eyes. Snake eyes, watching their prey emotionlessly. Even though Kieran wasn’t religious, he found himself praying frantically, lost in terror and despair. Please, God. Take me to another place. Help me. Please, get me out of here.
A thrumming sound started to hum in his ears. If his eyes had been open, Kieran would have seen an amber light envelope him. It steadily grew brighter and brighter until it competed against the African sun.
As the light engulfed him, a single thought ran around his mind.
Take me to another place…
Well, I think it is. Your grammar was also very, very good and so was your spelling. It's also really good how you ended this with a bit of a cliffhanger. It's an extremely good idea to include a hook at the end of a chapter, especially in the first chapter. Another thing that I enjoyed about this was that you used action. I love a bit of action!
