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Back The Lost Books
Chapters (132)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. CHOSEN: LOST BOOK 1
  3. BEGINNINGS
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. INFIDEL: LOST BOOK 2
  35. BEGINNINGS
  36. ONE
  37. TWO
  38. THREE
  39. FOUR
  40. FIVE
  41. SIX
  42. SEVEN
  43. EIGHT
  44. NINE
  45. TEN
  46. ELEVEN
  47. TWELVE
  48. THIRTEEN
  49. FOURTEEN
  50. FIFTEEN
  51. SIXTEEN
  52. SEVENTEEN
  53. EIGHTEEN
  54. NINETEEN
  55. TWENTY
  56. TWENTY-ONE
  57. TWENTY-TWO
  58. TWENTY-THREE
  59. TWENTY-FOUR
  60. TWENTY-FIVE
  61. TWENTY-SIX
  62. TWENTY-SEVEN
  63. RENEGADE: LOST BOOK 3
  64. BEGINNINGS
  65. ONE
  66. TWO
  67. THREE
  68. FOUR
  69. FIVE
  70. SIX
  71. SEVEN
  72. EIGHT
  73. NINE
  74. TEN
  75. ELEVEN
  76. TWELVE
  77. THIRTEEN
  78. FOURTEEN
  79. FIFTEEN
  80. SIXTEEN
  81. SEVENTEEN
  82. EIGHTEEN
  83. NINETEEN
  84. TWENTY
  85. TWENTY-ONE
  86. TWENTY-TWO
  87. TWENTY-THREE
  88. TWENTY-FOUR
  89. TWENTY-FIVE
  90. TWENTY-SIX
  91. TWENTY-SEVEN
  92. TWENTY-EIGHT
  93. TWENTY-NINE
  94. THIRTY
  95. THIRTY-ONE
  96. THIRTY-TWO
  97. THIRTY-THREE
  98. THIRTY-FOUR
  99. THIRTY-FIVE
  100. THIRTY-SIX
  101. THIRTY-SEVEN
  102. CHAOS: LOST BOOK 4
  103. BEGINNINGS
  104. ONE
  105. TWO
  106. THREE
  107. FOUR
  108. FIVE
  109. SIX
  110. SEVEN
  111. EIGHT
  112. NINE
  113. TEN
  114. ELEVEN
  115. TWELVE
  116. THIRTEEN
  117. FOURTEEN
  118. FIFTEEN
  119. SIXTEEN
  120. SEVENTEEN
  121. EIGHTEEN
  122. NINETEEN
  123. TWENTY
  124. TWENTY-ONE
  125. TWENTY-TWO
  126. TWENTY-THREE
  127. TWENTY-FOUR
  128. TWENTY-FIVE
  129. TWENTY-SIX
  130. TWENTY-SEVEN
  131. TWENTY-EIGHT
  132. TWENTY-NINE

The horses kept to the darkened path, which gradually made its way around the lake. Johnis’s eyes began to make out more details: the ring of leafless trees that bordered the lake; the black water, perfectly still without a breeze or a creature to move the surface; the thousands of red eyes, peering down, mostly in silence now.

And then the faint outline of a platform ahead as the path widened so that the horses could walk side by side.

“You see that?” he whispered.

“I see it,” Silvie said next to him. “It looks familiar.”

They’d seen another one of these platforms above Teeleh’s lair. Though the Shataiki seemed to be imitating Elyon’s creation of the forests and lakes, they were limited in their expression. Where Elyon’s forests were circular and green, the Shataiki’s were circular but black. Elyon’s lakes were blue with a hint of green; Teeleh’s dark and nasty. The Roush lived above the ground in the open air.

Teeleh’s lair was deep underground.

“Let’s pray we’re right about the lair,” Johnis said.

“Did you ever think you’d pray to find hell?”

He hesitated. It was madness. But then this whole business with the books had been madness from the start.

The horses stopped at the edge of the round platform. The air had grown even quieter.

“Now what?” Silvie whispered.

“Bring your water.” Johnis swung off his horse, hoisted both bags of water from the saddlebag, and faced the platform, joined by Silvie.

“The horses?” she asked.

Good question. “We don’t have enough water for them. Can’t cover every angle, can we?”

He started to his right, following the platform’s edge.

“That’s a pretty important angle, wouldn’t you say?” Silvie demanded, hurrying up beside him.

“Shataiki have no taste for horse meat,” he said.

The form of the lair’s opening loomed to his left. It reminded Johnis of the opening to the root cellars Thomas Hunter had suggested they build to store up food. Like a mouth in the ground.

He reached a trembling hand forward, felt for a handle, then pulled the door open. It creaked, not loudly, but easily heard above the still lake.

They stared into a darkness even thicker. Oily. A complete absence of light.

Silvie’s cool fingers touched his elbow. Gripped him tight. “Are you sure about this?”

“Douse yourself,” he said.

They both scooped fresh water over their heads.

“This feels wrong, Johnis,” Silvie said.

“You want to go back then?”

Silence.

“Follow me,” Johnis said and mounted the steps that led down into the lair.

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-SEVEN

The first thing Billos saw upon exiting All Right Convenience was the empty warrior buggy sitting in front of Smither’s Barbeque. Cops, Black had called them. A cop buggy.