The Quest for Yoshi

By Jeffrey Allen Davis

For two months, Shawna’s nightmares have kept her confused and exhausted. Visions of empty graves, cursed amulets, and old friends fill her thoughts at all times, leaving her friends and boyfriend perplexed.

Jamie, still mourning the loss of his clan-sister, has struggled to come to terms with having left leadership of the Funakoshi clan in the hands of the violent Shakato family.

So now Shawna’s strange visions are drawing her back to the world of Thera. The last time that they went there, a cursed wizard killed Yoshi. What will happen this time?

THE QUEST FOR YOSHI is a winner of The Reality Calling Spirit-Filled Speculative Fiction Award by Radiax Press.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeffrey Allen Davis
• Release date: Jan 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311291103

Jeffrey Allen Davis

Jeffrey Allen Davis writes from a suburb of St. Louis, MO, where he lives with his wife Vickie, two step-children Jayson and Breeanna (yes that's really the spelling of her names), and his daughter Kaitlyn (part-time). An ordained minister, Davis’s writing tends to take place within a Christian worldview, even if the story isn’t overtly religious.Davis spends his time watching Christian and martial arts movies, hanging out with his family, studying the Word, and contemplating the joy of Reformed Theology.In his day job, Davis works as a loyalty travel agent. He is slowly learning the industry and has finally gotten most of the airport codes committed to memory.He is also a very political person who enjoys discussing his conservative views. On top of that, he will gripe--to anyone who will listen--about how Marvel Comics ruined Spider-Man by ret-conning his marriage to Mary Jane. That and how Wizards of the Coast ruined D&D with the 4th edition of the game.

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The Quest for Yoshi

Book Four of the Adventure Chronicles

by

Jeffrey Allen Davis

Published by GCD Publishing at

Smashwords

Copyrighted Material

© 2016, Jeffrey Allen Davis

This book is a work of fiction. Places, events and situations in this story are purely fictional. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

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This book is available in print at most online retailers.

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Christian Fiction

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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible verses are quoted from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.

To Jayson and Breeanna

Thanks for making life more interesting.

And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbade him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. Mark 9:38-40

The Quest for Yoshi

Prologue

A Night Two Months Prior

Wednesday, October 21, 1992

The girl walks over the ground, her insubstantial form not disturbing the mist that has settled above the grass. The gentle breeze blows through her hair, bringing the sound of familiar voices ahead. Her walk becomes a run as she moves toward the rising smoke of a chimney.

Shawna enters a clearing, recognizing a small cottage and a smaller building. Smoke comes from the chimney of the house. The young prophetess looks quickly around the yard and sees freshly dug earth in front of a tombstone some thirty feet away. Her feet leave the ground and she floats toward the house, coming to a stop in front of a window. Peering inside, she finds an unmoving figure, covered with a white sheet.

The sound of weeping catches her attention. She moves through the wall and enters the house. She floats toward a room beyond the living area. As she moves by the fireplace, she catches a glimpse of a metal box sitting atop the mantle. The padlock on the box is nearly as large as the box, itself. Whatever is inside of the box was forged from a force so dark, that most pious men would fear it. The one who crafted this box understood the need to keep it away from the world.

Shawna floats through the doorway and into the bedroom of the owners of this home. The two who are in here are familiar. One is a woman, the other a man. The woman has flowing blonde hair and delicate features. Her eyes are slightly slanted, giving her the appearance of someone with some Asian ancestry. Her ears end in a startling point and her blue robes are dark and beautiful. She crouches over their marriage bed, calling out to her God, I don’t understand! If she’s not with You and she’s not in Hell, then what, my Lord?

The man, easily a full foot and a half taller than the woman, kneels next to her, placing a gentle arm around her to comfort her. He has a muscular frame, but his gut is somewhat rotund, giving him a jolly appearance. His red-bearded face, however, shows no trace of jolliness. Dirt covers him from head to toe, but the woman does not seem to care as she takes comfort in his embrace.

A sense of heat comes from back out in the other room. Shawna knows that the two in this room cannot feel it, but she does. She turns and floats quickly into the living area. A glance at the metal box finds that a hole has been melted in the front of it. Her gaze follows a burning mark from the base of the fireplace to the sheeted form as an unholy glow settles in, of its own accord, around the neck of the unmoving figure.

The seconds tick by and the fear in the air is palpable. Shawna’s breathing speeds up. Her heart begins to pound in her chest. In the distance, a wolf howls.

Suddenly, the figure sits up, the sheet still covering it from head to toe. There is a gasp for breath. After the lungs are filled, they release a blood-curdling scream that . . .

* * *

. . . she could still hear as she sat straight up in the bed. Shawna leaped to her feet, steadying herself with a trembling hand against the wall of her bedroom, just next to the light switch. She had lost track of the number of times that she had experienced this same dream since that first night back in October.

She walked nervously from her room and stepped into the bathroom, turning on the light with a flick of the switch. Looking in the mirror, the young woman examined the face staring back at her. Bags had begun to form under her eyes, complaining to her of their lack of sleep. Beads of perspiration ran down her face. Her hair, which she had just recently dyed back to its natural brown color, was matted to her head with dampness, even though it was now December.

Shawna turned on the cold water, then splashed some of it on her face. As soon as she instinctively closed her eyes to keep the water out of them, she could see that sheeted figure again, screaming with a pain that no human being was ever meant to feel.

Shawna turned off the water, then headed back into her bedroom. She looked at her alarm clock, which gave the time as 4:56 AM. The adolescent decided that she needed to go back to sleep. She switched off the light and climbed under her covers. She closed her eyes.

And saw the figure screaming.

She shot into a sitting position, reaching instinctively out to her bed table, closing her hand over the cool, leather cover of her Bible. Hugging it close to her, she whispered, tears building in her eyes, Why, Lord? Why? Then she wept bitterly.

Chapter One

December 22, 1992

Tuesday, 12:00 PM

Jamie sat quietly, having just turned in his semester Advanced Biology final exam to his teacher, Mr. Freedman. He looked quietly around the classroom, memories of sleeping in that same room during the Warui invasion filling his mind. His gaze settled on Shawna, who had been the first to finish her test, sitting on the opposite side of the classroom. Ordinarily, she and he sat next to each other, but Mr. Freedman had been one of the few teachers who assigned seats to the class.

As Jamie watched Shawna, he noticed that her eyes were closed and that her lips were moving. She was praying. He had been able to tell that something was bothering her. This had been going on for the past couple of months. But whenever he would broach the subject, she would just affectionately kiss him and tell him not to worry about her. He had finally given up, hoping that she would eventually let him in on the big secret that seemed to be just between God and herself.

He had prayed about it, of course. But God seemed to want to keep it a secret, as well. The last time that he had spoken with Buster over the phone, the young man, who was now enrolled at Evangel College in Springfield, had simply told him to be patient. God’s timing is not our timing, he had said.

The bell sounded through the halls, signaling the beginning of the two-week Christmas vacation. Sera school always let out after half a day just before a holiday. Jamie snatched his backpack from the floor and climbed from his seat. Merry Christmas, Mr. Freedman, he said to the short, balding teacher.

The science instructor smiled at him. Merry Christmas, son. Try not to eat too much ham this week.

Jamie patted himself on the stomach with a smile. I intend to.

A gentle hand rested on his shoulder. He turned to see Shawna, smiling up at him. Her eyes were tired. Drive me home?

He nodded. Sure. Where’s your car?

My mom has it. Hers is in the shop. She yawned.

The two walked hand-in-hand out of the room. They walked out of the side-doors of the building and heard a deep, familiar voice bellow, Hey, dude! Dave and Louis were walking toward them.

What’s up? asked Shawna, her hand still not leaving Jamie’s.

My parents are throwing a pre-Christmas party tomorrow night at our house, explained Louis. They want you guys to come.

Talk about short notice, commented Shawna with a smile.

He just decided on it last night, explained Louis. He makes last-second decisions like that, sometimes.

Shawna and Jamie looked at one another. I don’t have any other plans, commented the young ninja.

The prophetess shrugged. Me neither.

Great! Louis smiled as he turned to walk away. I’ll see you guys tomorrow night at six!

Hey, dudette, asked Dave of Shawna, have ya seen Laura? His eyebrows were crinkled with concern. She and I were supposed ta meet here.

Not since this morning, replied Shawna. We had calculus together. She was looking kind of sick. Has she been feeling alright?

Dave’s mouth stretched into a smile that did not show in his eyes. Sure. Why?

Jamie looked at his larger cousin suspiciously and stated, Amy said that Laura resigned from the cheerleading squad last week.

Dave shrugged. I don’t know why she did it.

Jamie sighed, deciding not to press the issue.

* * *

The drive to Shawna’s house had been uneventful. Within two minutes of getting in the car, Shawna had dozed off, leaving Jamie alone with his thoughts, most of which were not very pleasant. He realized that things were not always supposed to remain the same, but all of the changes that they were going through were really starting to take their toll on the young ninja.

After Yoshi’s death, Jamie had gone to the counsel of elders of the Funakoshi to explain what had happened. The group had told the authorities that they had been kidnapped by the Warui ninja, but had managed to escape. Yoshi and Deck had been killed in the process. Jamie and Buster had hated lying. But how could they have told what had really happened?

But Jamie had wanted to tell his clan the truth. So he had told them about Thera. He had told them about the old warlock who had kidnapped Shawna to remove a curse that ravaged his body. He had told them about Yoshi’s valiant death at the hands of that same warlock, who had transformed into a ravenous beast called a mortoque.

They had not believed him.

Jamie shook his head at the memory. Why should they have believed him? If he had not been through it, himself, he would have thought the story insane. Tang Shakato, who was the first in line for leadership of the Funakoshi after Jamie, had challenged him to a duel, which Jamie had barely won. When the elders of the clan had actually shown disapproval at Jamie’s refusal to take Tang’s life, Jamie had left the clan in disgust. Without Tanemura or Yoshi to temper them, the Funakoshi seemed no better than the Waruiyatsu. Now Jamie was nunekin, a ninja without a clan. But that did not bother him as much as it would bother other ninja.

Jamie pulled into the driveway of Shawna’s house. After putting his 1985 Cavalier in park, he reached over and gently touched her cheek.

We’re at your house, he whispered.

She turned her head and looked at him with an affectionate smile. Do you want to come in? Mom should be back any time and she said she was going to make cheeseburgers.

Jamie returned her smile and shook his head. I’m supposed to take Liz to her tae kwon do lesson tonight. Do you want to go?

Shawna thought for a moment. I’d better not. I think I need a nap.

He nodded. I can tell. When are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?

Shawna sighed, rubbing her brown eyes with her right hand. I think that God’s trying to tell me something really important. I don’t want to say anything until I’m sure what it is. She leaned toward him and kissed him gently on the lips. "I’ll let you know as soon as I know."

* * *

Jamie sat in the chair, watching the tae kwon do class with some interest. Max was sparring with a boy who was easily two feet taller than the young teen, but, as Max swept the other lad’s feet from under him, Jamie just shook his head.