The Druid's Spear (Ascent of the Gem Bearers Book 1) by Parker Payne, Lee Thornton III

seat.
    A splash of sunlight highlighted the excitement in John’s eyes. “You won’t believe what I found.”
    “What? A new star?” Ken scoffed. He picked up a menu.
    “Even better.” John threw his jacket at him. Ken shook his head as John opened his backpack and pulled out his tablet. Several quick taps on the screen and then he turned it toward him.
    “See?”
    Ken glanced up, more so out of habit than anything else, and the image he saw made him freeze.
    “Who is that?”
    “That’s what I’m trying tell to you! It’s your ancestor.”
    Slowly, Ken set the menu on the table and then he gently took the tablet out of John’s hand. The image, although grainy, was clear enough for him to see his ancestor’s face. He jerked. The man in the picture, from what he could remember, looked like his father. He’d had precious few memories of his sire, but he’d seen enough photographs from his mother to recognize the man.
    “Where did you get this?” He tapped the screen and zoomed in closer. The image grew grainier.
    John laughed, thoroughly pleased with himself. “I was doing some looking around into the Druid’s Spear phenomenon happening right now and I came across this.”
    Ken’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with my ancestor?”
    “I don’t know!” John exclaimed as he took back the tablet. “That’s why I’m so excited. Here’s a hundred year old picture of your ancestor and somehow it’s related to the planetary alignment.”
    “I thought you said this type of alignment only happens every two hundred years.”
    “I knew you were listening!” John grinned. “Yes, but all kinds of astronomical events occur all the time. This could be related to an alignment of two or more planets, the appearance of a comet, any number of things. I’ll have to do some more digging.” He nodded at the picture. “This particular picture came up when I was doing some research. Apparently, a hundred years ago or so, your ancestor was part of a group of professors who were looking for modern connection to Druids.”
    Ken twisted the watch on his wrist. There was no way the man in the picture could be his father if it was that old.
    “Druids?” Ken’s eyebrow rose into his forehead. “Huh? What does that have to do with astronomy?”
    The waitress came at that moment and took their order. Ken gave his first, since it was obvious she and John were making eyes again. With his friend being temporarily distracted, he took the tablet from John’s grip and stared at the photo.
    A nagging thought crossed his mind. This didn’t just look like an ancestor of his lineage. It appeared to be his father, exact copy and all. Okasan would know.
    He cleared his throat as a sudden lump appeared. Would the ache ever go away?
    With a determined lift of his head, he pressed the surface of the tablet and minimized the photo. According to the accompanying information in the page that appeared, the professors sought to understand what the ancient Druids believed and their practices. They had developed some interesting theories contrary to mainstream knowledge “So what do you think?”
    Ken twisted his watch. He didn’t know what to think. When his mother died, life loomed before him, a road with no end. There wasn’t a woman in his life he found special. Except for John, there was no one else in his life: he worked and stayed near his mother. Now in the past four days since her death, strange things had happened to him. Inheriting the strange rock and half cut whatever it was. The underwater event still filled his heart with unease. Now this picture of an ancestor that he was sure was his father.
    “I’m not sure what to make of it, John. Not sure at all.”
    Why didn’t these things happen to him while his mother was alive? Why now?
    A large shadow landed on the table, and Ken glanced up to see a tall man stopped in front of the window. Sunlight from behind obscured his face but Ken saw the man pull out a