The Secret of the Stone

We spent the next few days hiking through endless mountains and valleys and hills. By some strange will I marched on in a zombified state. Census, Cordum and Nayr maintained their military bearing, never complaining when they were tired, always taking the initiative to do what needed to be done whether it was finding food in the forest, cutting wood, taking turns keeping watch and making sure that we were going in the right direction. The two fairies complained constantly as they walked along in their clamps. We placed the clamps around their waists so that they could walk more freely. The clamps prevented them from flying or using their powers and adjusted to the shape inside it. At night we would set up camp. When night fall came my feet ached. I crashed mindlessly on my mat and cringed the thought of morning. To pass the time Nayr would tell us stories about Cordum, Census and he on one of their childhood adventures. They had known each other since they were very young. They would even tell stories that included Celestia and Cloud. Around the campfire I would play card games with Tem and Josili. Josili still vowed vengeance when she became free particularly against me. I think she was jealous that Tem and I talked a lot. Sometimes while everyone was asleep I would try to practice using my powers. At times Cloud would try to help me but there had not been a single spark since the fight with the Yar soldiers. One night Josili caught me practicing.

“You are really doing that all wrong.” she smirked.

“I didn’t ask you.” I replied frustrated by my efforts and annoyed by her unhelpful sarcasm.

“You are completely clueless.” she yawned.

“Yes, I know”

“At this rate you will never defeat Julian.” She was trying to be mean and negative.

“You don’t think I know that!” My voice became louder, Nayr and Tem turned in their sleep.

“You are going to wake the others,” she grinned. “If I didn’t have this thing on I could show you how it’s done.”

“I’ll bet.” I turned to face the other direction and continued practicing.

“Ha ha ha!” laughed Tem who was awakened from our voices. “I already tried that Jos.” He laid on his side with his head propped up on his arm. “I feel a little bit sorry for you. So, I’ll give you a freebie lesson to help you get started.” I glared at him annoyed but desperate for any help, even from him, I did not ignore him.

“Now, let’s say you want to move this stick over here. Don’t concentrate on the stick itself. If you were going to pick up a stick with your hand, you would just go and pick it up. You wouldn’t spend all your time focusing on the stick. Trying to get a lifeless object to move itself, trying to command it, No you would take your hand and pick it up and place it where you want it to be.”

I gave him a confused look.“What I am trying to say is,” he paused and then he wrote on the ground with the stick as he talked. “The power, the one that you have inside of you is a natural extension of yourself. You have to control your power like your brain controls your hand. You have to send a message to the part of you that controls your power and make it do what you want it to do. But to be truly effective you have to recognize what your power is and its purpose.”

“I am not sure that I quite understand.”

“When you were a baby you somehow taught yourself how to walk. You saw others walking. Something inside of you knows you can walk. You begin to transport yourself from one side of the room to the other first by crawling and then you begin to walk. If you where from this world you would have learned to use your powers like you learned walking, but on earth your innate instinct was suppressed, how could you do something you have no concept of, but there is something inside of you Violet that you always knew was there, you may not have understood it but it is trying to come out now.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath .Tem and Josili watched me silently. I imagined an extra hand reaching out of me and stretching out all the way to the stick. The hand picked it up.

“Violet, open your eyes.” said Josili.

I opened my eyes and the stick was floating over me. My mouth flew open and the stick fell to the ground. I gasped as I looked at Josili and Tem as to ask if they had done it? They shook their heads no, as if they knew what I was thinking.

“I did it! I did it!” I yelled. I grabbed Josili and Tem around the neck tightly and hugged them.

“Hey, not so tight.” Josili complained. “You’re choking us?” I turned them loose. “Besides that, you still have a long way to go.”

“What is it?” said Cloud startled by all the commotion!” The others woke up as well.

“What is going on?” said Nayr groggily.

“I moved a stick using magic!” I declared proudly.

“Really!” said Nayr unenthusiastically.

“Is that all?” complained Cordum. “Yeah! Fantastic! Talk to you in the morning!” He rolled over placing his blanket over his head.

“Alright,” said Census. “Good, but everyone should go to sleep now.”

The next few days with the help of Josili, Tem and of course Cloud, my powers started to improve. I was still taking baby steps but I could easily pick up a stick or a rock using magic. I could make it spin and send it flying in one direction although it did not always hit its intended target.

On our sixth day of traveling Census announced that we were close to Enin and would arrive there tomorrow afternoon. All evening long you could sense every ones anxiety. We hardly spoke to one another. Everyone went about their assigned tasks nervous and preoccupied by the uncertainty of tomorrow.

“Census,” suggested Cloud. “Shouldn’t we go over our plan? I think everyone is feeling a little anxious.”

“Your right,” he agreed. Census called to us and we followed him and Cloud to the center of the camp and there he began to lay out the plan for tomorrow. “Tomorrow afternoon we will enter the Gnome territory and we need to discuss what is going to take place. First Cordum is going to give you a little information about the Gnomes.”Cordum began to speak.

“The gnomes are a very secretive race; who have not had much contact with the outside world. They stay in their territory and do not tolerate outsiders trespassing or having any contact with them. All though these stories have not been confirmed they are rumored to be ruthless in their tactics to keep outsiders out.”

“The truth is,” added Tem “that no one who has ever gone to Enin has ever returned. That’s why the stories can’t be confirmed.”The camp suddenly grew silent. Even the continuous churp of the crickets seemed to cease.

“Tem, think! Do you remember anything that could give us and advantage here?” said Census

“I don’t know much. When I saw them I flew as fast as I could in the opposite direction.”

“What did they look like?” I asked.

“They were about this tall.” He held up his hand about three feet in the air. “From what I could tell they travel in groups and they can disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye.”

“As you can see they are very dangerous. That is why Cloud, Josili and Violet will not go with us into the gnome territory. They will remain in the forest,” said Census.

“What?” Josili and I replied in one accord.

“Why because we’re girls?”Josili snapped.

“Yeah, why aren’t we going?” I asked.

“It’s not because your girls.” said Census. “Violet, if we fail you must go on to Nevele, get help and find the princess so the two of you can defeat Julian. Josili didn’t see the casing so there’s no sense bringing along an extra person. It’s too risky as it is.”

“And what about me?” said Cloud.

“You are too noticeable,” said Census. “Besides your job is to look after Violet. She will need you to take her to Nevele if we fail.”

I almost agreed with the Captain this time. I did not want to be captured by the gnomes, but this didn’t feel right.

“We are all in this together. We should all go!” I argued.

“Violet,” said Census “We are not going to go through this again, your orders are to stay here. I mean it this time.”

“I don’t care what you say.” said Josili. “Tem is not going to face the gnomes without me.”

“Josili, no,” said Tem. “I don’t want you to come. It’s too dangerous.”

The mood in the camp continued through the night. Everyone was on edge. No one talked, no one slept and morning came early. We dragged our selves off the mats, packed up the camp and headed toward the gnome territory. We arrived at the border around noon.

We hid in the woods on the border of Enin and the captain and Cordum spied out the land with their telescopes. The plan was that they would enter Enin in two teams Nayr and Cordum would enter from the west and Tem and Census from the south west. If one team failed perhaps the other would succeed in finding the crystal without being captured.

“Wait!“ said Tem as they headed into the forest. Aren’t you going to remove the clamp? He asked.

“I don’t think so.” Census scoffed.

“How am I supposed to defend myself?” He complained.

“You will just have to hope we are not found out,” smiled Census. “Let’s go!”

After we said our goodbyes, Nayr and Cordum headed west and Tem and Census headed into the forest. Cloud, Josili and I retreated into the forest away from Enin.

Josili rested on a rock and Cloud sat down facing the Gnome territory and I could do nothing but pace back and forth with worry.

“Violet, what are you thinking?” asked Cloud.

“Cloud, I know what you are going to say but we can’t just stay here.”

“Your right!” he agreed.

“I am?” I was surprised by how fast he agreed. “Yes, I am! Let’s go!”

Cloud and I started into the woods toward the gnome territory.

“Wait!” said Josili! “I am going too. Tem is my friend and someone’s got to make sure nothing happens to him.”

I walked up to her. “Josili, I know we have not always seen eye to eye, but we have to work together to make sure that everyone comes out of this alive. Will you promise that we will call it a truce until we get out of the gnome kingdom?”

“I promise.” she said.

“Violet, what are you doing?” said Cloud as I took out the Yar bracelet and released the clamp.

“Were going to need everything we have.” I said. Cloud nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go!” she said. We ran off into the woods of Enin.

The woods where the gnomes lived were covered in a thick brush. It was hard to see very far what was in front of you. The trees seemed to be alive and move when you weren’t looking. I could not shake the feeling we were being watched. There were many animals in the forest. The continuous noise made it hard to hear if an enemy was approaching. The forest was full of deer, rodents and birds and they were noisy especially the birds. They let out an annoying cry no doubt to let the whole forest know that we were in the woods.

“There is so much activity in these woods.” Cloud complained “I can’t tell if anyone is coming.”

“I know I keep getting the feeling that we are being watched.” I replied. I looked up to see an owl like creature in the trees. His eyes met mine and followed us as we walked. Josili was walking slightly ahead. She stopped suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” asked Cloud.

Josili was looking into the trees. She was breathing heavily. We looked in the direction that she was facing and at first we could not see it but then we saw them. All around us there must have been about fifty of them in the trees.

“The, the gnomes.” Josili stuttered.We backed up back to back facing all directions. My heart was beating so fast I thought that it would leap out of my chest and dance on the forest floor.

The little men and women came out of the trees and surrounded us. Their tiny eyes began to glow until you could not see their pupils and they placed their arms in the air. Lights shined out of their eyes and beams from the left touched the beams on the right and formed a fence over us that closed in on us. The fence continued to come together until it was all around us. The cage with us inside lifted into the air. Cloud accidentally touched it and it was as if a bolt of electricity zapped him. Then in a snap we disappeared and reappeared in the center of a tiny city.

“Enin” said Josili in amazement.

“I don’t know if this was such a good idea.” I cried.

The cage floated above the village over the tiny houses which weren’t terribly high perhaps ten feet in height but it was an unbelievably large city. We flew into what looked like a town square. As we approached our landing site in the center of the square, there was a stage with a stair case. On top sat a gnome he was half bald with stringy hair protruding on both sides of his head and a beard that rolled down to the floor of the stage.

“That must be their king.” said Cloud.

He had long eyebrows that curled at the top and deep blue eyes that looked like clouds passing by as you looked up at the sky. The other gnomes gathered in the square. The cage landed on the ground and a gnome appeared suddenly beside the king and whispered something in his ear. The king then looked at us angrily and jump out of his miniature chair. He thumped his long staff against the floor.

“You have trespassed on our land!” His voice sounded like two people talking at the same time. “For this you must perish and never return to the land from whence you came.”

“I guess the rumors were right.” said Cloud.

“Silence!” yelled the second gnome.

“Wait!” said the Gnome King intrigued. “Rumors? Tell us what the outside world says about the great Gnome Kingdom.”

“Nothing, but good things!” Cloud said nervously. “Just that um, you are really great, and if you found some lost travelers in the woods that you would help them find their way and leave them in peace.” His voice was shaking. The gnome sat on his chair shaking his little head.

“Surely you have heard of our wrath and out great terribleness! That we don’t like outsiders such as yourself and that there is no excuse or defense for invading our lands and we will deal with your treachery accordingly.” A group of gnomes all dressed in long red robes entered the stage. Other gnomes set up chairs for them and a long table.

“We don’t mean you any harm. Why are you doing this to us?” I yelled. The crowd booed.

“Silence!” The king said to the crowd.

“How dare you speak with such insolence to the King of Enin,” said the king himself. “Your kind is full of lies. You come to destroy us and to steal our treasures. We will not listen to your lies.” The crowd cheered. “Judges.” said the King. “What do you suggest we do to purge them from our midst and purify our lands?”

The judges discussed the matter amongst themselves. Sometimes arguing but we could not hear what they were saying. The king sat in his seat impatiently. He spent some time twiddling his thumbs and tapping his fingers against the arm of the chair. When impatience overtook him he said rolling his bright round eyes. “Judges we are waiting.” The crowd booed. The judges quickly came into agreement.

“We have decided,” said the tiniest judge in an even tinier voice. “We have decided to feed them to the slug worms!” The crowd erupted and cheered in agreement. Then one gnome cried out.

“Let’s eat the hare!” “Let’s eat the hare!” and it caught on to the crowd and they all chanted. “Let’s eat the Hare!” Josili and I glanced at Cloud who was so scared he bumped into the side of the cage electrocuting himself again.

“Don’t worry Cloud no one is going to eat you.” I reassured him. “Josili can’t you use your powers.”

“I can’t.” she said the cage is blocking my powers.

“We have got to get out of here.” I cried.

“You will go nowhere,” said the king with his impeccable hearing. The crowd began to throw fruits at us. Cloud shielded Josili and I with his body.

“I hate gnomes.” Cloud declared.