‘The universe is a strange thing,’ Joran began, staring down at the book between his hands. ‘There is the world that we see and touch and feel, but occupying the very same space in which we exist are multitudes of worlds that overlap one another.’
He took the blank piece of parchment and drew a small circle at the top of the page and another circle at the bottom of the page. He then drew a straight line between the two of them.
‘Imagine one circle is Ellysia, and the other is the World of the Woods. It would take a very long time indeed to travel through the stars from one circle to the other,’ he said.
He grabbed the edge of the page and folded it back on itself until the two circles were facing each other. ‘But the universe is not flat. It bends back on itself over and over again.’ Joran started to push his stylus through the two ends of the parchment where the circles met until he made a hole through the two of them.
‘Rifts occur at the points in the universe where two different worlds overlap, which is how we can very quickly and easily step from one place to another,’ he continued. ‘The connections between two worlds are extremely strong. Much more than I could have imagined. Destroying a rift severs the connections and destabilises the two worlds in unpredictable ways.’
‘Yes, I know this,’ Kai said, impatiently.
Joran nodded. ‘Yes, but she does not. And if she’s going to come here demanding solutions, I won’t let her leave until she understands the problem.’ Joran’s silver eyes settled on Sloane, and she stared back at him in turn. She could see he was testing her with his gaze, but she held it until he nodded slightly and continued.
‘Our world was plunged into eternal winter the last time a rift was closed. I imagine it had a similar effect on Earth?’ he asked Sloane.
She frowned and shook her head. ‘There’s no eternal winter,’ she said. ‘If anything, scientists believe the Earth has been growing hotter.’
‘Which is probably a result of the destabilisation that occurred,’ Joran muttered.
‘So, how did you close the rift?’ Sloane asked, feeling incredibly curious as his story went on.
‘Rifts consist of pure energy, and since energy cannot be destroyed the only way a rift can be closed is by absorbing its energy into an object. But it can’t just be any object. It has to be something strong enough to contain such energy.’
‘The Oblivion Stone,’ Kai said.
Joran glanced at him and nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘How was the stone able to do this?’ Sloane asked.
‘The Oblivion Stone has the unique ability to accumulate energy through direct contact. But the stone is useless by itself. It requires a biological interaction with another being to complete the transaction of energy.’
‘So you couldn’t just put it in the rift and walk away, it requires someone like you or me to hold it there?’ Kai asked, frowning.
Joran nodded. ‘It cannot absorb energy without the user willing it to do so. The stone creates a kind of symbiotic relationship with its host, and it is only through that relationship that it can absorb energy. The Oblivion Stone is powerful, and if it did not have such a constraint it could potentially absorb all of the energy around us, and we would cease to exist.’
Sloane looked between Kai and Joran, confused. She wasn’t sure if she fully understood what Joran was saying, but it didn’t sound promising. Even if they had the Oblivion Stone, it didn’t seem like something they should be messing with.
‘It was magnificent,’ Joran said, as he opened the book on his lap. He flicked through the pages quickly as he searched for something.
‘Could another be made?’ Sloane asked.
Joran shook his head; his gaze still focused on the book. ‘I’ve already said that is not possible. Many different elements went into the creation of the stone, and several of them no longer exist due to the eternal winter that descended after the rift closed. There will never be another like it.’
He paused when he reached the page he was looking for, his gaze skimming it quickly before he turned the book around to show Kai and Sloane. There was a whole lot of writing that Sloane couldn’t read, but drawn on the page was a picture of an intensely green stone.
Sloane reached out and tapped her finger on the picture. ‘I’ve seen this before,’ she murmured.
Both Kai and Joran’s eyes shot up to look at her. ‘What do you mean you’ve seen it before?’ Kai asked. He was trying to sound calm, but his gaze was intense, and Sloane could tell he was struggling to remain composed.
‘One of the Brakys had a stone like this tied around his neck,’ she said, quietly. ‘I don’t know for sure if it was the same stone, but it glowed the same colour of green.’
Joran’s sparkling silver eyes grew hard, and Kai looked a little queasy as he listened to Sloane. ‘Is that possible?’ Kai asked, turning to Joran.
Joran nodded slowly. ‘On the day the rift to Earth was closed, the stone broke into three pieces. One piece was lost to Earth, another to one of the Brakys.’
He sighed and stood up before walking over to a drawer. He pulled it open and reached down, carefully lifting out a wooden box. He stared at it for several moments, almost wavering as he gazed upon it before he nodded to himself and turned to bring it over to them.
He cautiously lifted the wooden lid and tipped the contents of the box onto his hand. A dull green stone fell into his palm. One edge was smooth and rounded, while the other was cracked and broken. ‘The last piece is here.’
Seeing the stone seemed to render Kai utterly speechless, but Sloane stood and approached Joran’s open hand eagerly. As she neared it, she could see the jagged fracture line more clearly. It exposed the insides of the stone, which held deep tones of emerald that seemed to flicker under the light. It was attached to a metal chain and looked like it could be worn. However, judging from the dust that coated the box, the stone hadn’t seen the light of day in a long time.
It wasn’t glowing like the stone Sloane had seen on the Braky, but it was still beautiful in the way its facets reflected different shades of green. Sloane tilted her head as she looked at it. ‘How did it break?’ she asked.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Joran said, turning the stone over in his hand. ‘It is useless now.’
‘Are you sure about that?’ Sloane asked. ‘I’ve been to the Brakys’ lair, and it was littered with broken or half-formed rifts. Maybe they have been using their fragment of the Oblivion Stone to try and create new rifts.’ Her heartbeat quickened in her chest as she realised that she must be right. The thought of the Brakys attempting to create rifts worried her, but as far as she knew the creatures hadn’t been successful, and there were bigger problems to deal with.
Joran’s eyes widened, but he shook his head. ‘There is a huge amount of energy in a rift. One fragment would not be enough to create a rift or close one.’
‘What about two fragments?’ Kai asked, standing to join them. ‘If we could get the second piece from the Brakys and combine it with the piece that you have, would that be enough to close the rift?’
Joran shook his head. ‘This stone is dead. I’m not sure if it can be awakened again.’
‘But the stone I saw at the Brakys’ lair was glowing green. They must have found a way to get it working,’ Sloane suggested.
‘I do not know how that is possible,’ Joran replied. ‘I would be very concerned if that is true. But even if we had all three fragments of the stone it would be too risky to attempt to close a rift. I made that mistake once, and you know what happened…’ His voice trailed off, and a look of pain flickered across his eyes.
‘I cannot share with you how to avoid my past mistake, and I do not know a way to fix it because I have not figured it out even after all these years.’
He bowed his head as if his failure weighed heavily on him. For the first time, Sloane felt like she understood his pain. Joran had spent centuries trying to make up for his mistake, and he still hadn’t found the answers he was l
ooking for. Sloane looked across the room to Lleevia who was watching on with a sorrowful look in her eyes. It must have been hard for both of them.
‘Is there another way to close the rift?’ Sloane asked, turning her gaze back to Joran.
‘No,’ he replied, coughing to clear his throat before he looked up at her and continued. ‘The Oblivion Stone is the only way of transferring the energy.’
‘You should give it to me. Let me try to find another way to use it,’ Kai said.
He sounded so enthusiastic, but Sloane was quickly losing hope. The stone Joran had shown them was dull and lifeless, and she didn’t want to waste their time on something that was broken. They only had one day before the human ship landed on Aeris, and the Unfaih needed something that was going to help them now, not later.
‘Are you sure?’ she asked Kai. ‘Joran has been studying this thing for a thousand years, and he says it’s broken. What makes you think you can work it out?’
Kai didn’t answer. He was focused on the stone in Joran’s hand, and Sloane wasn’t even sure if he’d heard her question. Even if they took the fragment of the Oblivion Stone, there was no way they were going to get the other piece from the Brakys anytime soon. The creature that had it was huge, and Sloane had barely made it out of their lair alive.
Kai held out one hand towards Joran. ‘Please, just give me the stone. I’m not leaving without it.’
Joran stepped away from Kai and closed his hand around the stone, bringing it in close to his side. Sloane was starting to worry that their mission had been a waste of time, and she was beginning to panic about getting back to the rift before the inevitable battle begun. Kai seemed intent on leaving with the stone though, and from the way he focused on Joran’s tightly closed hand, Sloane could tell he wasn’t going to give up.
‘Please, Joran,’ Kai asked again. ‘Let me study it. Maybe it can’t help us right now, but it could still hold the answers to safely closing the rift. I might see something that you have missed. That stone is the only clue we have on how to close rifts, and it may help me find another way to do it. I implore you, Joran. Allow me to have the stone.’
Joran hesitated, his hand still clenched tightly around the stone.
‘Just give it to him,’ Lleevia said, from where she’d been silently sitting at the back of the room.
‘But…’ Joran started, as he glanced down at his hand.
‘But nothing,’ she said, cutting him off. ‘You’ve been sitting and staring at that thing for years. I don’t want it here anymore, and it may still be able to do some good. Perhaps Kai will be able to help undo what happened the last time it was used.’
Joran looked highly uncertain, but he sighed, opened his hand and held out the Oblivion Stone. His eyes narrowed as Kai approached, and he looked increasingly nervous as Kai lifted his hand to take the stone.
Joran dropped the fractured rock into Kai’s open palm and hovered his hand close by as if he was thinking about grabbing it back. He watched Kai, waiting for a reaction, but Kai’s eyes merely widened as he grasped the stone.
‘It’s so heavy,’ Kai said, bringing the stone in closer to take a look at it. He tilted his head as he studied it, and his eyes were calculating as he slowly turned it over and took in every angle of the stone.
Joran slowly allowed his hand to drop to his side. ‘I suppose I should give you my book too,’ he grumbled, as he went to retrieve the book he had shown them earlier.
‘Everything I know about the rifts and the Oblivion Stone is in here,’ he said, patting the book one last time as he passed it to Kai. ‘But I doubt it’s enough to help you. You’re both dealing with a dangerous power, and if you aren’t careful, you may not live to share the same regrets that I do.’
The warning in Joran’s words was clear, and his watchful eyes seemed to echo his concern as he stared at Kai with intensity. When they finally broke eye contact, Joran retreated to the far side of the room to join Lleevia without saying another word.
The two of them stood with their arms crossed over their chests and it became apparent to Sloane and Kai that they had outstayed their welcome.
‘We should go,’ Sloane murmured, looking between Kai and his mentor. ‘We don’t have time to linger. You’ve got what you came for.’
Kai frowned as he glanced down at the green fragment in his hand, but then he threaded the chain it was connected to over his head, and the stone came to rest against his chest.
‘Prepare the horses. I’ll join you in a moment,’ Kai murmured to Sloane.
Sloane hesitated. Kai must have wanted to discuss something with Joran, and she didn’t want to miss any vital information. But she could also see sorrow building in Kai’s eyes. He seemed to be struggling with everything that had happened since they had arrived at Joran’s village, and Sloane imagined he wanted to clear the air with his mentor before he left.
‘I’ll meet you out there,’ Sloane said. She glanced at Lleevia and Joran one last time before she turned and walked from the igloo and into the night.
The village was quiet as she made her way through it, and it appeared that most of the Unfaih had already retired for the evening. As she neared the edge of the settlement, Sloane’s horse nickered in greeting. She gently rubbed his muzzle when she reached him, and he leant into her hand, urging her to keep slathering him with attention.
She patted him a while longer, but she knew they had to get moving, so she dropped her hand and began to untie the horse from the post he was tethered to.
Once the two horses were free, she led them beyond the edge of the village. She paused as she looked out at the vast and endless sea beyond. It must have rained while she’d been in Joran’s igloo because the layer of snow that coated the frozen ocean had solidified into a shiny layer of ice that reflected the sky high above.
The clouds that had plagued the journey out to the village were gone, and millions of bright stars lit up the sky. Their twinkling lights reflected on the ice below Sloane’s feet, and with no mountains to block the view, she could see the horizon stretching endlessly in every direction. For a moment she almost felt like she was back in space and floating through a star-studded sky.
She felt so in awe of the world that surrounded her; it was a sight like nothing she’d ever experienced before. But despite its beauty, for a brief moment, Sloane felt incredibly small and alone in the vastness of the snow-covered world.
She had travelled across the frozen sea hoping to find a way to protect the beautiful world that surrounded her from the humans. But the Oblivion Stone was dead and there was no other way to close the rift. The Unfaih were left with no choice but to turn their attention to the inevitable battle with the humans. They were going to have to defend their world with everything they had, and Sloane prayed that she returned in time to help them fight for it.
Chapter Fifteen
Rhyn stood on the frozen balcony, his forearms resting on the icy railing as he stared out at the ocean that lay far below him. It had consistently snowed the day before, but today he could see the suns rising over the horizon, and orange hues tinged the sky. The day the human ship was due to land in the World of the Woods had arrived.
As he scanned the horizon, Rhyn wondered where Sloane and Kai might be. He knew they should have reached Joran’s village the night before, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take his brother to get the answers they needed from his mentor. Rhyn had never met Joran before, so he had no idea how the magus would react to Kai’s request.
He was still uncertain about closing the rift and repeating past mistakes, but as long as the humans remained in the World of the Woods, his people were in danger.
They’d survived a rift closing once before, and he knew they could survive it again. But if the entire human colony turned into Brakys, then the Unfaih would be faced with something they could never survive. They already had their hands full defending the castellum against the creatures, and after travelling to the Brakys’ lair, Rhyn knew they had
not yet attacked with their entire hoard.
His warriors were capable and brave, but even they could be overcome if too many Brakys attacked at once. He had no choice. He had to do everything in his power to stop the humans from turning into the terrible creatures that plagued his world, or his clan would be wiped out.
His eyes searched the horizon again, hoping to catch some sign of Kai and Sloane. He knew perfectly well there was little chance of that happening, but it didn’t stop him from seeking them out. They were running out of time, but Rhyn also found that he missed Sloane desperately. It was almost like a small part of him had been taken with her when she left.
He let out a long breath and turned from the frozen sea. A new day was just beginning, but already Rhyn felt the pressure of the tasks that lay before him. He’d been in discussions with the elders throughout the night, and he hadn’t slept at all. There was no time for rest though; he had to relocate the villagers to the castellum as soon as possible, and he didn’t want to delay.
As Rhyn looked back at the pathway that led away from the cliff edge and back towards the village, he caught sight of an Unfaih warrior trudging through the snow towards him. The man looked tired, and his shoulders drooped as he walked. As he got closer, Rhyn recognised him as one of his father’s guard. That could only mean one thing: Vas had returned.
Rhyn’s stomach dipped unpleasantly at the thought. He didn’t show any emotion though as he stood tall and went to meet the warrior who looked ready to drop from his feet. He’d probably been riding for days without rest, so Rhyn wanted to save him any unnecessary walking if he could.
‘Your father has returned,’ the man said, bowing his head at Rhyn in greeting.
Rhyn gave him a tight smile and nodded in return. ‘When did you get back?’ he asked.
‘Just now.’
The Oblivion Stone (The Liftsal Guardians Book 3) Page 15