Lost Idols

By Seth Giolle

Angelina, Gordon, and Simon have finally escaped on their much needed vacation to South America. Briar testing is wearing on Angelina and Simon, and being a town mage is wearing thin for Gordon. South America is just what they need.
But this rainforest hasn't seen rain in a while, and someone is following them, cloaked in a way not even Angelina, a Dream Walker can fathom.
And local villagers are dying.
There are mysteries to be solved.
These Future Kings are up for the challenge!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387024513

Seth Giolle

Seth Giolle was born on a small, rural farm in southeast Ontario. After Travelling throughout Canada in all its splendour, he once again makes Ontario his home.

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Lost Idols

Future Kings

Book 7 

By Seth Giolle

otherWorksByAuthor7

Lost Idols

Home

Making an Exit

Barter and Bait

DryForest

Locals

Anomalies

Evil Spirits

Trenches

Alone

Regroup

Presentations

At Odds

Under Up

The Measure of Brawn

Dream Walkers

Lost Nations

Home

Chapter One

Angelina couldn’t decide what she felt exactly. There was a definite hint of discomfort being back in Iroquois Falls. This was where she’d grown up as an orphan, doing chore runs through open sewers, battling rats along the way. Memories of fleeing from crazed gangs and Stalker players were flooding back.

And yet this wasn’t the same town they’d fled. This wasn’t the same town they’d gone north from to find a real home, their sanctuary up north. Not the same town they’d later returned to, where she’d found her parents again. Things had changed. There was a touch of salvation in that fact. But it hadn’t changed for the better.

Mosa.aree.aus.Serpensat, she whispered with a grin.

Having projected her thoughts along with the words, the gravel at her feet bubbled up into a snake shape, took on fire, and transformed into the living thing. Completely under her control, the serpent shot off towards the small gang that had strayed near.

Seeing the fair-sized cobra winding their way at high speed, the six delinquents shot off even faster. Angelina smiled and nodded. A spell well done.

Hercull.Auriagas, she commanded.

As drawn from the respective constellations, the magic commands for slow motion and invisibility mingled. Taulalos, she added with a swirl of her finger. The snake slowed to a stop while fading from sight. It also took on a healing mindset and curled up into a ball to rest.

She glanced around again.

Gordon’s parents had brought their Raider clan to Iroquois Falls with more clans joining under their banner, and the place had undergone some radical changes.

For one thing, the auditorium where she’d grown up, sleeping under the stands inside and collecting outside in the morning for assignments, was gone. There’d been a fire while she’d been up north training, and it had burned to the ground.

The old Town Hall remained, but the Raiders had built up some ramshackle apartments closer in. Those new apartments linked up with those more distant left and right. Town Hall was now the focal point of both arms. It was the figurative head of Iroquois Falls with those apartments forming a square complex to shield it. To get to the place now, a person had to walk a whole block in with those towering, poorly built buildings on either side.

Angelina saw the vantage point.

It was safer to a suspicious mind. With the other Raider clans that had moved in, Gordon’s parents had good reason to be suspicious of spies and overthrows. There was a positive there, but the buildings looked so ugly.

Those slap-shod buildings had gone up all over. The riots and fires the night they’d left had taken down so many buildings. There’d been room for more. Some had actually been built properly. The rest, as she saw it, were just lucky to still be standing. And there were so many gaudy colours! And they all stank like living refuse.

The people living there stank worse!

Spotting the locals on their return in their torn jeans, arm piercings, and retro punk dressings, she sneered. Her ire was steadily subsiding for just plain frustrated irritation. She really wasn’t in the mood for this today.

Looks like we’ve company.

Angelina glared up where Simon stood. Where’d he come from? She hadn’t heard him approach.

They’re going to take my bench and spoil it with all their ridiculous tags, she groaned. I really don’t want company right now.

Should I leave? Simon joked.

Angelina shrugged, staring back to the approaching teens again. We should both be leaving, she grumbled. Leaving would remove her inner debate and all connected frustration. If only Gordon would finish up, so we could get out of here. We’re late for our vacation. Another reason I’m not in the mood to be entertaining guests.

She closed her eyes and cupped her hand. This time, she just held the image of the constellation Serpenta in her mind and focused on the fear a snake created for others. She opened her palm and blew. The magical breath flowed out through her invisible cobra.

That fear was felt by the teens who fled again.

They’ll be gone longer this time, she cheered smartly.

You can’t really be that miserable, Simon mused. He dropped onto the bench beside her and sat back, one leg up on the other. It’s a nice day away from lessons and dusty tomes. And like you say. We’re on vacation, at last.

Angelina fought down a sneer. I’m not really miserable, per say.

She glanced around. The small park she’d taken over had been badly littered and tagged with gang signs. The trees had been covered in paper wads and ripped clothing, and the grass had been used as both toilet and sink. She’d quickly cleaned it up with her magic before plunking herself down and facing the street and her much changed Iroquois Falls, turning herself invisible.

I’m just frustrated that we’re waiting so long, she grumbled, sitting back again as well, elbows up along the bench back, and just being here is bringing back so many emotions, most of them not good, the rest of them just damn. She shrugged. Overwhelming?

Simon snickered, nodding along. I know what you mean. It makes you want to hurt the people who’ve ruined the place, yet thank them for squatting and giving it what it had coming all those years. I think I ran into a younger me back there. Didn’t know if I should slap him or pat him on the back.

Another Simon? That sparked a thought: it wasn’t just that things had changed for the worse - she hated the Raiders because they reminded her of ... her? She tried to deny it, but the realization wouldn’t be ignored. She hated what they were doing to her old town because she saw herself in how they dressed and acted?

Angelina hadn’t thought of it that way.

She crossed her arms. Automatic arguments surfaced in rebuttal. She was an accomplished wizard now apprenticed to a Master on the Council. She’d even passed Karzalean’s Trap which few had done previous or since! That had been a year back now. She’d spent her time since training and making amends with her parents. They’d stopped showing off so much, and she wouldn’t hold back with her magic training. They all spoke more openly now at that. Things were good. She’d come away feeling much more confident on both fronts.

And she was seventeen now. There was no more wearing stained hand-me-downs that didn’t fit right and smelled funny. The Raider spawn that kept trying to invade her rented space seemed to revel in mismatched, soiled, and badly-sized clothing.

The invisible snake shifted, hissing as a pair of drunken workers passed. They were spooked by the sound of something they couldn’t see and hurried on. Angelina thanked the snake for the warning and quick save.

Her clothes were comfortable. They were exactly what the old magazine she’d found had shown. Using her magic, she’d fashioned them from some wild cotton plants. The khaki capris had pockets at her hips and knees. The shirt was a lighter shade of green, and the vest was a little heavy, but it had its own array of small extra pockets. Which she’d filled with odds and ends.

She figured she was a respectable safari explorer. Even if they weren’t going to Africa. The clothes would fit well with a rainforest motif too. She hoped.

She’d braided her long brown hair into a tight weave. She’d yet to decide if it would stay brown. She was thinking red or tangerine for the trip ultimately.

She was neither young nor helpless. She wasn’t running around like a pack rat or street scavenger anymore. She wasn’t a Raider. And yet they did remind her of her younger self, and that did make her skin crawl.

Maybe the town deserved to be mistreated like this. But then again, no place truly deserved this much waste. Why couldn’t they have rebuilt it the way it had been before the fires – just changed what was broken. There had been some good things about old Iroquois Falls.

You’re sticking with pants?

The twenty year old had no vest, but he was wearing much the same. He even had the same black boots with even more small extra pockets up and down each leg.

Simon shrugged. He made a fanning motion with his hands. Auriagas.Corobois.Keish, he muttered, a transparent spell book appearing between them. The book rested securely on his bottom hand. The pages were turning as it opened, and he started leafing through the translucent pages distractedly. We’re headed for a jungle, Angelina. Underbrush, ferns, bugs. He flashed a smart grin. They’re going to eat you alive.

Rainforest.

Same difference.

Angelina was sure there was a difference. She just didn’t know what it was. She considered her capris with a sneer. They’d looked so good on the person in the magazine. And they felt comfortable enough. She shrugged. If she needed leggings down there, she’d change them. How difficult could it be? Her and Gordon had hiked their way through a jungle as part of their test. It had been annoying, yes, but not that tough.

Thinking of Gordon, she poked her head out over the side walk again. She’d chosen this park and bench because it faced a rather pink eyesore of a living complex.

Gordon had used his magic to make his building smooth and strong. It wouldn’t fall over in a wind storm like some others, but locals had painted it. His apartment inside was a more conservative red and brown, some lighter tones. It was definitely a lot more tasteful.

It was also meticulously organized, and he seemed to have a penchant for storing boxes of extra clothing and other items, the oddest of things really. The first time Angelina had visited, she’d been reminded of the basement under the old Town Hall where they’d first met. Maybe it wasn’t the Town Hall that had known the problem of hoarding. Gordon had been the hoarder all along? If nothing else, it was a mild affliction.

There was a small crowd of colourful and oddly dressed townspeople, ex-Raiders gathered outside the front door. Some had even climbed up five floors, some paused halfway up. Those on the fifth floor were peering through windows seeing nothing through thick curtains and sealed blinds. They randomly reached for the balcony doors, but then pulled the arm back like they didn’t dare actually try the door, just in case.

Town Mage, Simon rued, eying the scene with disdain, not what I’d pick for a career.

It makes his parents happy. And they need a mage to keep all these clans together, a bit of fear and respect, and Gordon’s magic, when he’s down here, keeps the sewers running and crops growing. Without him, this town would wither, and all these Raiders would disband and go back to raiding other towns. All the peace this area’s known would be lost.

They both considered the town anew. Raiders hurt a