The Gecko's Gate

By Dennis Stein

On a planet ruled by reptiles, amphibians, and insects, three young friends are faced with the task of saving their entire world from annihilation by a wicked and terrifying warlord.
When the evil lizard Lord Cyrus Malthor sets out to claim the realm for his own, it is up to brave Case, wise Jonas, and feisty Kiko to embark on a great adventure that will determine the fate of their beloved homeland and the future of the peace—loving reptilian races. After Cyrus lays claim to the Gecko's Gate, a magical artifact that has the ability to transport him and his armies anywhere in the blink of an eye, he appears unstoppable.
Join Chase, Jonas, and Kiko as they journey through lush rainforest's, hidden caves, and scorching deserts, meet mysterious amphibians and powerful leaders, and battle giant insects and formidable armies in their quest to regain the gate, fulfill the prophecy, and rid their world of Cyrus Malthor once and for all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sands Press
• Release date: Dec 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9780993675348

Book preview

Other Books By Dennis Stein

The Magic Cat

The Magic Cat is Dennis Stein’s first book, release in 2012. It introduces us to a very special feline, India, who has the uncanny means to know when bad things are going to happen. A must have book for any age.

The Heart of the Raven

The Heart of The Raven is an epic adventure, plunging two children into a quest to find the Heart, an amethyst crystal, blessed by an Indian Shaman. Fulfilling an ancient prophecy, they decipher a historical text to locate the artifact, finding out that it has secret powers. It can heal sickness and injury.

The Lost Channel

The Lost Channel is the sequel to The Heart of the Raven, a whole new adventure for Valerie and Alex involving sunken ships and lost treasure. The children follow clues to unravel the truth behind a legend about a lost British warship, and its mysterious cargo. It is a race against time, and sinister characters who want the treasure for themselves.

The Last Train

Once again Valerie and Alex become involved in an adventure given to them by their Grandmother from her scrapbook in The Last Train. They must follow and gather clues from all over their city, avoiding sinister forces conspiring to stop them in their tracks, and steal the treasure they seek away from them. The legend of a ghostly trainman, and hidden treasure await the children as they explore the city looking for answers to a historic mystery.

These titles can be found at  http://www.sandspress.com.

Find even more writing from Dennis Stein on his blog at http://www.thefineprints.blogspot.com.

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ISBN 978-0-9936753-4-8

Copyright © Dennis Stein 2015

Cover concept and artwork by DigiWriting

Artwork by John Tkachuk

Gecko's Gate concept and artwork by Sharon Stein

Formatting by Kevin Davidson

Associate Publisher Kristine Barker

This book is a work of fiction by the author. Characters, names, places and circumstances are the product of the author’s imagination and are used in a fictitious manner. Any relation to any persons, alive or deceased, place, location, event or otherwise is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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1st Printing March 2015

2nd Printing September 2015

3rd Printing April 2017

To my Friends and Family…..

Table of Contents

Chase peered through the darkened underbrush, searching for movement. His yellow skin with black spots dripped with the jungle humidity. Normally, he would have caught four or five large insects by now, but today he was trying to beat his record for the largest. He curled his thick tail behind him carefully, moving forward silently. A branch scraped against something suddenly behind him, and he turned slowly, raising a scaled finger in front of his lips. Jonas could always be counted on to be noisy, especially at that opportune moment when Chase needed silence to concentrate. Jonas had the same yellow and black pattern as Chase, but was slightly smaller, even though he was about the same age.

Chase was extremely quick for a gecko, and his hunting skills were renowned in his small village. His reflexes were like lightning, and he loved to hunt for the quickest of insects. It seemed much more sporting than just sitting on top of a beetle to stop it from moving. To him, that lacked any kind of challenge, although Jonas seemed not to care.  Jonas thought it was just better to catch what they had to and go back, so that they could be done with the chore and find something much more interesting to do. But Chase lived for the hunt, and he spent a great deal of time practicing his skills of camouflage and stealth.

Haven't we caught enough for the day? asked Jonas quietly, looking into the bag that he had unslung from his shoulder.

Chase could tell that Jonas wanted to be finished with their work, and wanted to return to the village to find something else to enjoy - something more fun than what they were doing. He couldn't resist throwing a sarcastic comment his way.

What's the matter, no spine for a real challenge? answered Chase, concentrating on a large beetle that was crawling through the growth ahead of him. It was over a foot long, and very wide, with an iridescent sheen to its shell. It would be a delight to his mother for sure, and he could almost taste fresh beetle stew.

Well, I'm just thinking, this will be plenty for the banquet.

The more we catch the better, Chase replied, spearing a small caterpillar and placing it in his own pack. That's what a banquet is all about.

He turned his attention back to the beetle, which hadn't moved very far. After a quick swat from the butt of his spear, it stopped moving altogether.

The steamy underbrush resonated with the sounds of the rainforest, and the warm humidity offered a welcome change from the cool morning dew, bathing him in soothing moisture. Shards of crystal-blue sky poured through the small gaps in the canopy formed by the trees high above, and the air was heavy with water. Every step in the tangled, wet undergrowth gave forth more sound than seemed possible. Shafts of light pierced the forest, beaming down on the moss-covered ground, and slicing the shadows produced by the swaying leaves from above. Again, a small rustling sound could be heard nearby, causing the two young reptiles to stop dead in their tracks. Remembering their parents' lessons, they sat very still in the shadow of a fern, watching for movement and trying not to breathe. Suddenly, the leaves parted, and another lizard stuck its smooth brown head through a bush directly in front of them. She grinned as she quickly surveyed the small clearing the two hunters occupied.

Ha. You two really shouldn't be out here alone, you know. You may get hurt without me around! she exclaimed, bursting from the bush toward the startled pair.

I can't believe you thought you could creep up on us like that, Kiko. Maybe we'll try to look scared the next time around! said Jonas, pretending not to appear rattled.

Jonas is right, Kiko, said Chase, stroking the scales above one of his eyes. You really must do better if you want to take US by surprise.

Sure, she replied. You boys are just that: little BOYS!

With that, she turned quickly, and all that remained of her presence was the movement of a few leaves. Kiko was an anole that lived in the same village as the two young geckos, and although she was obviously a female, she liked to be involved with the two males, whatever they may be doing. Her mother often shook her head in dismay at her when she came home covered in dirt, wishing she could be more like the other girls in the village. But to Kiko, that meant one thing: no fun.

Chase and Jonas looked at one another, shaking their heads. Did she really think it was that easy to frighten them? It was time to teach this naughty young anole a lesson. She obviously had no idea who she was messing with, after all. They crept forward, parting the leaves of the thick growth near the ground. Greens of all shades surrounded them, and they slipped silently ahead, as though in a fog made up of stems and foliage. The sounds of crickets chirping in the dead leaves and moss that made up the forest floor, and the birds singing high overhead in the canopy, masked any movement they made as the two silently parted ways to flank their invisible opponent.

Time seemed to freeze, and his breathing was calm and still as Chase scanned the clearing opening up in his path. No movement. Even Jonas was surprisingly silent. Chase’s eyes narrowed, and he squinted to try to bring the forest beyond into focus. Dust particles floated in the beams of sunlight, taking on an almost living appearance in the greenery behind, and all sounds seemed to cease, heightening his senses. In the shade of a large leaf, he began to make out the telltale brown blotches that ran down Kiko's back as she lay motionless, hiding from them. The two geckos exchanged a quick glance, grinning as they crept closer.

Jonas and Chase had been friends since they were hatched, and Jonas had many fond memories of the trouble they had gotten into over their young lives so far. The village of Andar in which they lived was a beautiful place, and both he and Chase had played in the streets and the shaded village square for what had seemed like an eternity, causing chaos at times, and always finding entertainment for themselves, usually at some other poor reptile's expense. Like the time they had set loose a massive collection of ants that they had borrowed from a large colony nearby in the rainforest, which had cut every leaf off of one of the village elders' prize citrus trees. Jonas smiled at the thought as he walked. Lanwyn had been very angry at the two young lizards that day, and they had ended up being disciplined for a week, although their mothers knew that keeping them separated for any length of time would be all but impossible. The two suffered from insatiable curiosity, combined with an apparent lack of fear of anything.

In later years, when the anoles came to live in Andar after the Conquest Wars, the two geckos befriended a young female from among the arriving refugees, and trouble followed the trio from then on. Only after an incident when Kiko had accidently fallen down a waterfall and nearly drowned were their parents and the village elders able to subdue their antics somewhat. The three were the best of friends, and had remained such to this day. Jonas even thought there might be more between Kiko and Chase at times. She had begun looking at him in a different way in the last year or so. Every once in a while Jonas would catch her watching Chase, quickly averting her gaze when she realized that Jonas had seen her. However, it didn't change the way the three of them were together, and fun was always the operative word. Many days were filled with nothing but swimming in the stream and catching fish and bugs in the forest, followed by lazy naps in the sun in the town square.

Jonas took a wrong step in the moss, making a small squishing sound, and Chase raised his scaled arm to motion him to stop. After a few seconds of waiting to see if the sound would cause the young female to bolt, he pointed down to the spot where he could still make out the blotches. Jonas' dark, vertically slit eyes strained to see what his friend was pointing at. At last he began to grin, sighting the same pattern in the leaves a short distance away between them. For long moments they waited, hoping that her patience would waiver, and that she might emerge or try to move to another spot within closer reach. Jonas glanced quickly at Chase, giving away his intentions to try and surprise the hidden reptile in the foliage, and Chase nodded slowly in approval, beginning to grin himself as he imagined the fright they would give Kiko. Neither of them had noticed the stillness that suddenly encased the rainforest around them. A shrill cry broke the silence from high above, causing the two would-be hunters to jump involuntarily, and even their prey, hidden in the leaves below, twitched as though bitten by some unseen assailant. Shadows passed over them, and looking skyward, Chase and Jonas could see winged shapes scream past overhead, grazing the leaves of the canopy high above as they moved like lightning toward the east. Finally Kiko raised her head from the cover that concealed her, gasping at the huge shadows that were jetting by above the treetops.

What are they? asked Kiko timidly.

Jonas sank down into the cover of the undergrowth, not sure of what he was seeing. Chase raised a hand toward the two of them without breaking his gaze from above. He quickly recognized the sound of the creatures’ cries as they flew past overhead.

Vultures, he said in amazement. Lots of them...

What are they doing heading that way? Kiko asked, looking confused. The only thing in that direction is miles of scorching desert!

Suddenly, all three friends looked back and forth between each other with knowing expressions. They were each aware of the legends and stories taught to the young by parents and storytellers of the large reptilian monsters that lived within the scorching sand dunes of the desert. Kiko recoiled from the very memories, shrinking down lower into the soft green leaves around her. The two geckos exchanged worried stares, knowing that whatever was going on, it could not possibly be a good thing. The Sand Sea was vast, hot, and totally devoid of water. Vultures were only present after some animal had been killed, for vultures were carrion feeders, and judging by the numbers of them soaring quickly overhead, there was a lot of death somewhere. Something had happened – something terrible.

Cyrus glared down at the long lines of scaled reptile warriors emerging from the mist, their spears and swords catching the occasional flash of diluted light. From his vantage point on top of a hill of rotten stumps and moss, he had a clear view of the marching horde, along with the surrounding scorched and blackened marshes. The smell of smoke and rot was thick in the foul breeze, and he shifted his considerable weight to his other side, flinching as he glanced down to inspect a dirty wound in his side. The scales had been split neatly by a dagger from one of his recently fallen foes, a blade that had fortunately landed between his armoured breastplate and his side armour. His red eyes smouldered as he examined the shallow cut, his tongue flicking in disgust. He quickly turned back to observing his legion's movements, careful not to show any pain, despite the stinging in his side.

Cyrus Malthor was not a huge reptile, but what he lacked in bulk, he made up for in sheer ferocity. As a child, his parents had to separate the young lizard from his two other siblings - both brothers - to keep him from injuring them in one of his terrible temper tantrums. His father would lock him in a small room in their dark, sandy cave, to keep him contained until his rage had abated, usually finding the toddler asleep after a while from the expenditure of so much energy. The elders in the empire recognized his value quickly as a soldier, and he rose through the Academy with distinction. It helped that Cyrus' father held a distinguished place in the senate, and the young warrior swiftly earned his first command. His brothers later met their ends in the far reaches of the desert, battling the same horned lizards that Cyrus' militia later conquered and assimilated into their own regular army. The young officer gained tremendous respect as a leader after many victories defending his homeland and expanding the Stigian Empire. He fondly remembered ceremonies where he earned decorations, personally given to him by the Emperor himself.

But after a time, all that had changed. His father had died under mysterious circumstances, and some of the other senators even pointed their fingerers at the young military officer who had defended them. They cited his contempt of his father's motions in the senate for peace with neighbouring races, and a feverish desire to expand the empire even further. Cyrus and his devoted guardsmen were ambushed one night shortly thereafter in the dusty tunnels of the barracks in which they lived by reptiles loyal to his accusers. In a fit of absolute rage, Cyrus killed the senators who had betrayed them, and found himself in a spot of trouble with the Emperor. His ruler sentenced him to remain outside the empire with his militia, until a time when they would be required to defend the lands once again. Illness followed soon after for the aging patriarch, and the young warlord Cyrus Malthor was summoned to return, leaving him free to pursue his ambitions. He returned to Stigia to lead its great armies, and to take his rightful place beside his Emperor.

The new, young Lord of Stigia was ready to conquer all of the other races of his world, a fact that he used to rally the troops to his Emperor's great pleasure. Not all of Cyrus' actions were very popular, however; he routinely punished or tortured any reptile who disagreed with him, making them appear as traitors to Stigia. But he was a fierce warrior who commanded great respect and fear from the armies he led, and with each new battle he won, his place in the empire had become further solidified. Now, he sought the prize in Andar that could bring his homeland dominance over the entire realm; an artifact that could take his forces to the edges of the lands, sweeping away or enslaving the remaining races that still defied Stigian power.

The regulars now moved forward quickly, marching in tight columns, the horns on their heads capped with copper bands, and brilliant armour plates on their fronts. Sand-coloured scales of orange and brown covered this army from head to toe, and their small, beady eyes were ripe with darkness and evil. On they went, their synchronized steps sloshing through the shallow, stained waters of the marsh. Sprigs of cattail and thick grasses