Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy Read online

  Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy

  Jerry Hart

  Published by J.W. Star Publications

  Copyright © 2013 by Jerry Hart

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Cover artwork: Wil Whalen

  Kindle Edition: August 2013

  Table of Contents:

  Book 1: Dargo Island (The First Tale)

  Chapter 1: A Couple of Firsts

  Chapter 2: New Life

  Chapter 3: Job Offer

  Chapter 4: Dargo Island

  Chapter 5: The Village

  Chapter 6: Training

  Chapter 7: Secrets

  Chapter 8: First Night

  Chapter 9: Rockne’s Party

  Chapter 10: A Whole Lot of Exposition

  Chapter 11: Sightseeing

  Chapter 12: Forgetting Something

  Chapter 13: Scary Shift

  Chapter 14: I Need Super Healing

  Chapter 15: Rewan

  Chapter 16: A Princess Suffers a Fool

  Chapter 17: Estevan Learns Stuff

  Chapter 18: I Do Some Digging

  Chapter 19: The Giants Choose

  Chapter 20: A Giant Problem

  Chapter 21: Winning Dargo’s Support

  Chapter 22: Under the Ice

  Chapter 23: A New Leader

  Chapter 24: I Discover Something About Myself

  Chapter 25: Shae’s Secret

  Chapter 26: The Battle Begins

  Chapter 27: Sibling Rivalry

  Chapter 28: Dargo in Chaos

  Chapter 29: Undoing

  Chapter 30: Rebuilding Dargo

  Author’s Note

  Book 2: Dargo’s Dark Dream (The Second Tale)

  Part One: Josh

  Chapter 1: Something Unleashed

  Chapter 2: Bad Things

  Chapter 3: Research

  Chapter 4: I Find Something

  Chapter 5: Dargonius’s Chamber

  Chapter 6: Nalke’s Diagnosis

  Chapter 7: When Birds Attack

  Chapter 8: Another Island

  Chapter 9: Tomb

  Chapter 10: The Dark Dream

  Chapter 11: Less Time than we Thought

  Chapter 12: A Visit Interrupted

  Chapter 13: Desperate Measures

  Chapter 14: Trouble on the Mainland

  Chapter 15: The Cure

  Chapter 16: Dargo’s Dark Past

  Part Two: Astrid

  Chapter 17: Playing with the Elements

  Chapter 18: Dargonius Returns

  Chapter 19: Dargo Gets to Work

  Chapter 20: A New Dargo Island

  Chapter 21: Stealing the Cure

  Chapter 22: Rain

  Chapter 23: The Quest

  Chapter 24: Celebration

  Chapter 25: Almost Easy

  Chapter 26: Dargo Takes Flight

  Chapter 27: Transformation

  Author’s Note

  Book 3: Rapatha (The Final Tale)

  Prologue: The Perfect Hiding Place

  Chapter 1: Snow Day

  Chapter 2: Nature of a Nature Demon

  Chapter 3: The Island’s Pain

  Chapter 4: Two Nature Demons

  Chapter 5: The Heart of Dargo Island

  Chapter 6: Speaking with Ghosts

  Chapter 7: Discovered

  Chapter 8: Nexus

  Chapter 9: The Dead Rise

  Chapter 10: Force of Nature

  Chapter 11: Rapatha

  Chapter 12: Back to the Island

  Chapter 13: Speaking with Dargo

  Chapter 14: Giving Back

  Chapter 15: Separate Paths

  Chapter 16: Fairies of Dargo Island

  Chapter 17: Rockne Returns

  Chapter 18: Journey to Lacey

  Chapter 19: The Land of Constant Starlight

  Chapter 20: Incubi

  Chapter 21: Chaos

  Chapter 22: Life and Death

  Chapter 23: Burning Bright

  Epilogue: The Tale of Rapatha Island

  Author’s Note

  Book 1: Dargo Island (The First Tale)

  Chapter 1: A Couple of Firsts

  Believe it or not, I’d never seen a tornado in real life until I was nineteen, and I’ve lived in Texas for fifteen years. I’d only ever seen them on TV. Though the one I was looking at now was on the news, it was also down the street. As were two others; they were closing in on me, and I still couldn’t see them.

  I’d gone outside my house a few times like an idiot—along with my neighbors—to see if the twisters were visible, but thanks to the trees and many roofs we could see nothing. We may not have had to wait long because a fourth twister looked to be forming over our heads at that time. The sky was so silent and eerie. I expected wind that sounded like trains, but got nothing like that. Just creepy silence.

  And then the hail started just as I was returning to the house.

  My roommate, Christy, was already hiding in her closet, but I couldn’t just hide in mine and wait. For one, it was full of clothes and boxes. For another, I was simply too terrified to sit and wait for death to come.

  As I walked back to my room on the far side of the house Christy called from her room, “Josh, are you sure you don’t want to hide with us?”

  “I’m fine. I don’t think the tornadoes are heading this way anymore.”

  I was lying, but it made me feel better. When I walked into my room I immediately turned up my TV and listened. The tornadoes were indeed headed for us. All three!

  I hopped into my closet with all the pillows from my bed waiting for me. I kept the TV on and the door cracked so I could stay updated. I could almost hear the train-like wind now…or maybe it was my imagination. God, I could feel the walls closing in on me now. Was I going to die this day, one day after my nineteenth birthday? That’s what I get for being born in May.

  The house shook, and I closed the door and pressed against it. I knew I couldn’t keep the tornado out like that, but it made me feel a little better, gave me some control of the situation. Incidentally, I still hadn’t seen the tornado but was about to be killed by it. What a way to go. At the very least it could have been a “now I’ve seen everything and can die happy” moment, but I couldn’t even get that.

  I heard glass shatter and knew it was my bedroom window, just over my bed. If I hadn’t jumped in the closet in time I would’ve been cut to shreds. I heard a terrible sucking sound just past the door and figured my TV and computer, and possibly my bed, were being pulled from the room. If I did survive this, life would suck.

  At that moment a strange thought occurred to me: Did I truly want to die today? I mean, if I survived but the house didn’t, where would I go? I’d moved out of my parents’ house because they were always being so protective of me, treating me like a child. My truck was so crappy, in and out of the mechanic’s shop three times this year. I was dreading what the tornadoes were doing to it at that moment.

  My problems were trivial but they were significant to me. I was afraid of the future, of all the problems I would face, especially of the ones I wouldn’t be able to handle.

  The room grew louder—the tornadoes were right outside. My death was seconds away, along with the death of my roommate. I accepted my fate but prayed f
or hers. She was going to have a baby in two months...

  I closed my eyes, ready for the end.

  It didn’t come.

  I opened my eyes, relishing and fearing the sudden silence. I wondered if I’d gone deaf. I snapped my fingers in front of my face. I wasn’t deaf. That could only mean one thing: The tornadoes were gone.

  I waited a minute before opening the closet door. As I suspected, the window had shattered but my belongings were still in their places. I crawled over the bed to the window to see the sky, but the damn two-story house next door blocked my view.

  I opened my bedroom door and saw more glass on the linoleum floor. Luckily I’d put my shoes on the second the alarms went off. The glass crunched beneath my feet as I walked through the living room.

  “Josh Debelko!” Christy called from her bedroom behind me. “What do you think you’re doing? Are the twisters gone?”

  “I think so; I’m checking.”

  I was at the front door when Christy said, “Boy, you are brave. Be careful; I’m going back to my closet.”

  She rubbed her belly before closing the door. I chuckled at her compliment and looked through the front door’s window. The street looked calm, with only a little debris scattered around. I was relieved to see my little blue Chevy S10 still in its spot by the mailbox.

  I saw other neighbors being just as curious as me. No one left the safety of their tiny porches, though. I guess I would be the first.

  I walked the path to the driveway, making sure not to step on the beautiful, sensitive grass. I kept my eyes on the sky; it was eerily quiet again, the clouds slowly spinning above me.

  I got a horrible feeling in my gut.

  I looked back to the neighbors and saw them running into their houses, screaming and pointing. I looked up and saw a funnel headed toward the ground. One of my neighbors was standing in the street, too scared to move. I ran toward her, pushing her out of the way just before I was lifted off my feet.

  Chapter 2: New Life

  When I woke up I had no idea where I was. I felt a hard surface behind me, and my head hurt. I tried to move my arm, to touch my head, but someone stopped me and told me to lie still. I couldn’t see them, couldn’t open my eyes, so I merely groaned. I felt water droplets on my face and figured it was drizzling—

  I suddenly remembered the tornado.

  I sat up before anyone could stop me. My eyes were wide open now. I was surrounded by neighbors, including my own roommate. I felt warm wetness on my lip that I knew was not rainwater. I touched it and saw blood on my fingertips. Not surprising; my nose always bleeds when I’m truly scared. I was only surprised it didn’t start earlier when I was hiding in the closet.

  “I don’t think you should move,” Christy said.

  “I’m fine. My neck and back are fine.”

  Two neighbors helped me up. “It’s not that....”

  I looked at Christy, noticing the worry in her eyes. “What is it?”

  “You...you were dead.”

  I let that sink in for a moment. There was no way I’d heard correctly. I studied myself, feeling my legs and stomach. I could feel my touch. Nothing hurt but my head. I was alive. How could I have been dead?

  “Are you sure?” I asked. Christy wasn’t a doctor, after all.

  She looked to one of the women who’d helped me up. She was a doctor.

  “I checked your vitals myself,” said Dr. Harris. “You were technically dead.”

  She was staring at me like I was a medical miracle. I held out my left wrist. “Am I okay now?”

  I hoped I didn’t sound sarcastic because I truly was concerned. I took a few deep breaths and felt the air in my lungs. I was alive.

  “Clearly, you are, Josh,” she laughed.

  “Doctor!” someone screamed behind the crowd that surrounded me. Dr. Harris made her way through and kneeled down. I didn’t see why until I managed to push people out of the way.

  Someone was lying on the ground, his eyes wide open. I could tell they saw nothing.

  “He just dropped,” said the girl who’d called for the doctor. “He was fine!”

  Dr. Harris checked his pulse. And then she began CPR.

  “He was fine,” the girl repeated.

  He was fine, and I wasn’t. Now I was fine and he wasn’t. He was alive and I was dead.

  Now I was alive and he wasn’t.

  * * *

  The paramedics took the boy’s body half an hour later. His girlfriend (I assumed it was his girlfriend) was around my age. I knew that much, at least. I didn’t know their names, despite the fact I’ve lived in this neighborhood for two years. I only knew Dr. Harris because she came over every weekend to hang out with Christy.

  I helped my roommate clean up the glass in the living room, and then we sat on the couch and took stock in the fact we’d survived our first tornado together. Christy was one of my best friends. We used to work together at a movie theater; I just couldn’t leave that place. Christy is a year older than me and married, though she and her husband were separated.

  I constantly told her that she and her husband Barry would get back together soon. Not only because she was seven months pregnant, but because Barry was a good guy. He was staying with a friend until things got less crazy.

  I checked the news again. I assumed the storm front passed us by but wanted it confirmed.

  My heart skipped a beat when I saw a demolished building in a familiar location, just off the freeway. It was the movie theater.

  “Is that our theater?” Christy asked.

  I looked at her, completely out of it. “I’m jobless,” I said quietly.

  “And people could have been hurt,” she reminded me.

  “Of course.” I coughed, even though I didn’t need to. I felt selfish. “But how am I going to pay rent now?”

  “We’ll get by.”

  “Today’s just not my day,” I said, taking a moment to be selfish. “I died and lost my job. Can it get worse?”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Alive, I guess. My head still hurts.”

  “Maybe you should go to the doctor.”

  “I would, but our neighborhood doctor said I’m fine.”

  “She sure looked at you weird, huh?”

  “The way you’re looking at me now?” I joked.

  “Sorry. It’s just crazy seeing you here. You were totally dead. You looked like you were asleep, but I knew you weren’t.”

  “I’m really surprised Dr. Harris wrote me off as okay after what happened. I should be in a hospital, even though I hate them.”

  “Well, she said she’d check on you later today. Did you see the way she looked at you after that guy died, though?”

  “I—”

  The doorbell interrupted me. I could see Dr. Harris through the door’s window. Christy let the doctor in. She was a pretty, middle-aged woman with light brown hair streaked with white. She and Christy played a fantasy role-playing game every Saturday night with a few other friends. They often invited me to join them but I liked my games of the video kind.

  “How are you, Josh?” the doctor asked.

  I stood and nodded. “Good. Headache, but that’s it.”

  “That’s good.” She looked back and forth between Christy and me. “If you’ll allow it, I’d like to examine you one more time.”

  I remembered the last time I was “examined.” It was a physical for high school and I didn’t enjoy it. “Can I keep my clothes on?”

  At first she didn’t appear to understand, but then she laughed. “Yes, you can keep your clothes on. In fact, I insist you do.”

  “I’ll check on Mrs. Darcy next door,” said Christy. “She’s old and all.”

  Dr. Harris smiled as Christy left us alone in the living room. She then sat next to me on the couch. I held up my arm again so she could check my pulse, but she ignored it.

  “There’s something I have to tell you,” she said to me.

  “Am I okay?”

  �
��You are...now.”

  “Now?”

  “You did a brave thing, saving me from that tornado.”

  “It was nothing.” I could feel myself blushing. “It seemed like it was going straight for you, though.”

  Dr. Harris looked off into the distance. “It was.”

  I looked at her, curious. Of all the things I expected her to say, that wasn’t even on the list. “Um...what?”

  “I made a powerful enemy a long time ago,” she finally said.

  I was really confused now and didn’t know what to say.

  She looked at me then and said, “I don’t understand how you’re still alive.”

  “You didn’t save me?” I asked, noticing the change of subject.

  “I wish I could say I did. I’ve done a lot of things that got me into trouble in the first place.”

  I was really lost, but continued to listen, even though I was a little scared now. “What did you do?”

  Instead of answering, she looked at the TV. “I loved that theater. Too bad it’s gone.”

  She sounded distracted and was clearly changing the subject again, but I decided to play along. “I work there. Well, I used to.”

  She looked at me. “I’m sorry, dear.” She perked up. “If you’re in need of a job, I may know someone who can hook you up.”

  I perked up too. “What kind of job is it?”

  “Security, for a very...nice community.”

  “Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. I’d never thought of being a security guard before. I didn’t know any personally and was only familiar with ones that worked in malls, or the ones in movies that always got killed.

  “Are you interested?” Dr. Harris asked, reminding me she was there.

  “Yes, please. Is the community close?”

  She thought for a moment. “It’s closer than it seems.”

  “Okay. I’d appreciate the help.”

  “I’ll get right on it.” She patted my hands again before walking to the front door.

  “Doctor?” I called before she could leave. She turned to me. “Am I going to be okay? You worried me earlier.”

  She smiled and nodded. “You’re going to be fine, Josh. I promise. And call me Shae.”