The Keeper of the Stones

Chapter 41



20th August – The Phelanagarth Mountains - Nadjan



Jake was awoken by a hand being placed gently on his shoulder. It startled him, but he made no sound, anxious not to disturb his two sleeping friends. Tien was standing above him. The old wizard placed a bony finger up to his lips indicating to Jake that he should remain quiet, then he beckoned to the young boy for him to follow, as he shuffled himself over to the far side of the cave. Jake glanced at his friends, they were both still lying motionless under their blankets and obviously still in the deep sleep their bodies needed. Verastus was snoring loudly and Ben had his thumb stuck firmly in his mouth. This amused Jake to the point where he almost sniggered aloud, but he managed to stop himself, remembering Tien’s instruction that he had to be quiet. He pulled back his cover silently and crept over to where the wizard was waiting for him next to the wall, beside the various shelves that were carved into the rockface.

“Err… What time is it?” asked Jake sleepily, as he approached the wizard wiping the sleep from his eyes. “And, how can you tell in this darkness?” he added, as an afterthought.

“It is daybreak. The sun is just beginning to rise and it is going to be another warm, sunny day.” answered Tien confidently. “Remember, I choose to live in this ‘darkness’, Jake, I am not blind my boy.” he said mysteriously. Jake didn’t fully understand Tien’s meaning, but then there were so many unexplained things on Rhuaddan and one more didn’t seem to matter too much, so he let the comment go without response.

“Here, Jake. This is what I have come to show you.” said Tien, turning to reach for a small wooden box from the shelf behind him. The wizard opened it carefully and took out two small pieces of white stone. He held them in the middle of his outstretched palm for Jake to see.

“Are… Are they what I think they are?” asked the young boy, surprised.

“Yes, Jake. They are Reolite shards. These are the only two pieces I know of, besides the stone that Vantrax wears of course. They are the meagre fruits of an exhaustive search of this land that I conducted years ago. That is how rare Reolite is. And how hard it is to come by. It may give you a better idea of the size of the task you face.” stated Tien seriously. “They are yours now. I give them to you, in the hope that they will aid you on your journey, wherever it leads you. But know this, Jake; they are but small pieces of stone, their powers are severely limited, they are good for maybe one use only, one small spell, one opening of the light. After that, they will be useless. They may help you to…”

“But how… How do I use them?” interrupted Jake, suddenly realising that he knew nothing of the powers they held, or how he was meant to unlock their secrets. The old wizard looked at him reassuringly.

“Do not worry yourself, you simply have to command them, Jake. You are the Keeper. Oh yes, one thing more... You have to do it in an old Ruddite dialect.” he added, a wry smile spreading across the old man’s face as he spoke.

“What?” hissed Jake sharply. “But, I can’t! I can’t speak your language, I don’t know how.” he stated, trying forcefully to point out the fatal flaw in Tien’s plan.

“Trust me, Jake. When the time comes you will know all you need to know. As I have said, you are the Keeper. The knowledge you seek is already within you. You were born with it, you have always possessed it.” said Tien calmly.

Jake seemed less than convinced, he rolled his eyes as he replied. “Oh yes, I’m the Keeper. Thanks for reminding me of that. I nearly forgot for a moment.” he answered sarcastically, before placing the two stones into the pocket of his jeans.

Tien and Jake continued to talk for a little while as the others slept. Jake learned a bit more about the world the wizard had sworn to protect. He listened to the stories of old that Tien relayed and he began to feel very strange. It was weird, it was almost as if he was becoming one with Rhuaddan and its people, he felt an affinity with them that went way beyond sympathy or understanding. Their problems and pains had suddenly become his. He felt connected to them somehow. He couldn’t explain it, but the stories he heard seemed to involve him in some way. It was not as if Tien was telling of the events of a distant land, far away from his home, it felt more to Jake as if he was speaking of his homeland. He listened avidly, but he didn’t mention how he was feeling.

Not long afterwards, Verastus and Ben had risen. They had all eaten the breakfast prepared for them by Tien and they were finally ready to begin their journey. They set off in good spirits, laden with all the food and drink that they could carry. Tien had also placed numerous bottles and jars into Ben’s bag which contained all the potions and oils that he thought he may need on their travels. The bag was full, and it was weighing the youngster down.

“Corr!” he moaned, as he shifted the weight once again. “We’ve actually packed the kitchen sink!”

Only Jake laughed in response to Ben’s comment, the others failing to understand the terminology and irony. Ben just carried on regardless, muttering something to himself under his breath about being a ‘pack mule’, which nobody else heard.

They walked slowly back through the darkened tunnel and across the stairway that led around the large cave to the entrance. They were all following Tien, who was holding a flamed torch in front of him to light the way. Once he was outside the entrance, the wizard extinguished the torch, he turned around and waited for them all to exit, then he lifted his hand and pointed his palm towards the opening, shouting out firmly.

“Srunec beraxetomas!”



The entrance to the cave slowly disappeared, the rocks surrounding it miraculously merged together until the hole was completely gone, and all that remained was mountainside. The twot="ys were by now used to seeing such strange feats of magic, where once they would have been amazed at the sight they’d just witnessed, it now brought no reaction at all from them and they all turned to set off again down the mountain path, this time with Verastus leading the way.

There was a good deal of snow on the ground while they were high up on the mountain, it became lighter and lighter as they descended and by the time they were half way down, it had completely disappeared. The sun began to shine strongly and it was getting noticeably warmer. Jake was now walking besides Verastus at the head of the group, he turned around to glance behind him at nothing in particular. The mountain trail they’d just descended was now magically merging with the surrounding rocks, following them, and moving about fifteen feet behind them as they walked. There was no trace at all being left of the path they’d followed.

Filling in the cave entrance was one thing, but this was unreal!

“Hey! Does anyone else see that?” he asked of all his companions, clearly more impressed with this particular feat of wizardry. “Someone tell me I’m not crazy, please.”

Tien just smiled to himself and continued walking. Ben looked at the phenomenon and just shrugged, then he tried to shift the weight of the bag on his shoulder. The straps were cutting into his flesh and they were just beginning to cause him some real pain.

“Ha, ha.” laughed Verastus, chuckling aloud in his deep throaty voice at Jake’s reaction. “Yes, Jake. We all see it, but I at least have seen it before. It is nothing new to me. It is strange to look at though, is it not?”

Jake continued to question Verastus about his statement as they descended and received a full explanation of what his companion had seen on the way up the mountain. At long last, they reached the bottom and they all halted for a brief rest at Jake’s suggestion, the youngster being concerned about his elderly companion’s health and fitness.

Tien though, despite his obvious age and apparent frailty, seemed to be feeling no ill effects at all from the strenuous descent. He moved like an old man. He certainly looked like an old man. In truth, he was a very old man. But, the wizard didn’t seem to react like an old man, he was neither tired, nor out of breath. He was taking this physical exercise in his stride, as if it was a gentle walk in the park, and he was obviously as fit, if not fitter, than the rest of them. It was a welcome sign to them all that Tien wouldn’t slow them down on their journey, as they had all at first feared.

“So, Tien, can you tell us now where we’re heading?” Jake asked, once they’d rested a little. The old wizard stared towards the southern horizon as he answered the Keeper’s question.

“Yes. We must head for the first of the stones that I know of, the nearest of them.” he replied. “There is an old warrior who lives in Ilin-Seatt. He was once a great knight, a master swordsman who was the King of Nadjan’s champion. He fought many, many wars and battles. They say he was undefeated in single combat. And this in a time when defeats were plentiful! For his services to the royal family he was awarded a ‘Blood Stone’ by the King, a red gem made of Creine. It is a Creine stone we seek to begin the restoration. He will be sympathetic to our cause I know. That is where we are heading, the city of Ilin-Seatt.”

“Well alrighty then!” responded Jake enthusiastically. “Sounds simple enough. Let’s go!”

“Yeah!” added Ben, excitedly joining in with Jake’s eager response. “Game on! On tee… The Boy Ben. Ha ha.” he laughed with his friend, as they both stood up.

Verastus looked over at them with a seriously perplexed expression. “Srr... Game on?” he asked bemused. “On tee? What does this mean?”

“Yeah, Big Man. ‘Game on!’” Ben said playfully in reply, having rested and now finding himself full of youthful exuberance. “It… It just means, come on. I’m ready. Let’s be having it. You know? On tee… Golf? Tee shot? Nah… You won’t get that one mate.”

Verastus shook his head in bewilderment. “I fear Ben, that I will never understand you two completely.” he said, as he stood up, smiling at the two young boys.

Tien’s next words removed the smiles from their faces.

“You jest, but know this my new friends,” the wizard shouted suddenly, “this task will not be easy! It is no laughing matter!”

“Huh?” interrupted Ben. “Well, well. Surprise, surprise. Nothing ever is in this world, is it?”

Tien ignored the youngster’s comments and continued. “Ilin-Seatt will be crawling with enemy soldiers and spies. Lord Bierenstell is old. If he still lives. His mind is not what it was.” he warned.

“Yes, okay Tien. I think we understand. I’m sorry for interrupting ya, but… Well, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there, eh?” said Ben impatiently. “Now, this way is it?” he asked, picking up his bag and starting off in the direction of Tien’s former gaze.

The wizard seemed to be a little stunned by Ben’s impudence. He was also slightly amused by it. He smiled to himself as he joined the others in following the youngster. They hadn’t walked far, when Tien gave them all one final word of warning.

“We must still keep a sharp lookout for those Taskans! They will not have given up looking for you.”

They journeyed all day through open fields and lush green meadows, over hills and dales, and by mid afternoon they had reached the outskirts of LLeagh Forest. Jake was just thinking of halting in the shelter of the trees for a well deserved bite to eat, having been prompted incessantly by the ever-hungry Ben for the last few hours, when Verastus suddenly shouted loudly that he had spotted an enemy patrol behind them.

“Taskans! Quickly, into the trees!” he ordered, as he caught sight of their pursuers. “Let us try to get into shelter before they see us.”

They all sprinted the short distance to the trees, the old wizard surprising them all with an unexpected turn of speed that matched his far more youthful companions. As they entered the forest, they turned around to observe the enemy’s response and were alarmed to see that the Taskans had seen them run and were now giving chase.

The patrol of ten Taskan warriors was from the fortress at Brandralen. The large search party that had combed the countryside for the fleeing strangers had been divided into smaller groups by the persistent Taskan leader, in the hope of searching more ground for their illusive quarry. This patrol had, as usual, been assigned a Pralon warrior as lookout to compensate for the Taskan’s poor eyesight. It was the Pralon who had spotted the group and he now led te as expertly in their direction.

“There’s no way we’ll outrun these horsemen,” shouted Jake calmly, “ditch your bags and prepare to fight.”

They each took out their weapons and stood waiting at the entrance to the forest, ready to receive the oncoming Taskans. Tien lifted up his empty right hand and shouted loudly.

“Ellerat!”



A large shiny, pointed, sword suddenly appeared in his hand from out of nowhere. He swung it around in front of him with no great confidence or skill, trying to familiarise himself with its weight and balance once again, having not held it for many years.

“I thought you had no weapon?” said Jake surprised.

“I do not pretend that I know how to use it, Jake.” answered Tien honestly, as he moved closer to Verastus. “But it may just give them second thoughts about attacking me.”

Jake smiled at him, the patrol was almost upon them now and he glanced quickly at his three companions. Ben was on the end of the short line, he looked ‘scared to death’ and it worried Jake to see the expression on his friend’s face. He had no time to react to it though, the first of the mounted enemy came into view and was now bearing down on him, with sword raised.