The Heartstone

by Lisa Finnegan

  There were two; mounted on tall slender horses the quicksilver color of mercury. Slowly they rode up. A quick blast on the horn the larger one carried and the hounds backed away even further. They settled down on their haunches panting from the chase. Alert they watched with small snarls. An abrupt hand gesture and the dogs went utterly still. Quick as thought the smaller hunter threw out a silver lasso.

  Ariana stood in front of Geneth who lay on the gritty gray sand lining the edge of the river. Hounds encircled them. Behind the dogs were two shadowy tall and slender beings mounted on tall slender horses. The horses were tall and whippet thin. Ariana couldn’t see their riders clearly.

  A silver lasso bound her to Geneth. She couldn’t remember how she had gotten here. She didn’t know if they were friend or foe. Her head hurt. Her mind was full of confused images of dogs and running. She felt a trickle of warm blood running down her calves.

  She tried to move but was immobile. She couldn’t even blink her eyes.

  “What art thou?” asked the larger of the beings. The voice was neuter.

  “I…”

  “What do you do here?”

  Ariana peered into the shining nimbus to see a face.

  “It is not for you to see our faces, Intruders.” The one who held them said.

  There was a bright flash of light; Ariana and Geneth dropped to their knees. Ariana’s head rang, a sudden headache throbbing behind her eyes. Two silver arrows quivered in the grass in front of them.

  “Know the penalty for untruth. Those are arrows marked for thy hearts.”

  “I am Ariana and this is Geneth.”

  “Intruders, the penalty for trespass in our kingdom is death unless there be mercy given. What reason is there that you trespass?”

  “I seek the path to the Second Gate Heulwen. I am going to Serenvale. I bear the Heartstone and seek to return it to the Web of Stars.”

  “Enough, girl. Show us the Stone.”

  Obediently, she took the Stone from under her tunic. It gleamed under the moonlight like a frosted diamond casting their captor’s faces into sharp relief. They had the semblance of humanity. They were inhumanly beautiful like the silver edge of a knife blade or the round perfection of a drop of blood. Severely neutral, ageless, sexless they seemed made of air and light. Their eyes were black and ancient.

  As they looked at the Stone Ariana could sense a timeless communion as if they had all come into being at the same time. The taller nodded once and the horses stepped back a pace.

  “It is enough. Cross the river and you will find the gate of Heulwen. Come not this way again. Be warned. We are the Hunters. The Stone will not save you again.”

  The rope binding them disappeared. Lifting a horn, the smaller hunter sent a pure clear tone ringing out into the silence. The pack turned as one and left in search of new quarry. The hunters followed. They didn’t look at the women again.

  Not until the last hoof beat faded into silence did Ariana or Geneth dare move. In the stillness, Ariana and Geneth looked at each other. Ariana saw her own fear reflected in the white face of the girl next to her. Wordless they turned to the river. The cloudy water flowed sluggishly by them. A wall of mist obscured the opposite bank. Ariana didn’t want to touch the scummy surface that roiled past. She hesitated. Any minute the hunters could come back. They had to get across the river now.

  Sitting down on the bank she closed her eyes and sought the Stone’s power. Its presence was immediate with a new flavor to it, the cool radiance of the moon augmenting the Stone. The cool white light filling her mind gave her an idea. She pictured the white cold power of the moon made solid.

  Crystals of ice formed in the water. The white light grew and the cold seeped into her bones. When she thought the power had built enough she rose and touched the water that flowed past them. A thin sheet of ice immediately formed on the surface. She fed it more strength and in a few minutes, there was a solid bridge of ice leading to the far shore.

  It was a narrow bridge barely three feet wide, slippery, and slick with the oily dirty water that had formed it. Ariana could feel the force of the running water pushing at her thin fragile bridge and she quickly fed it more power while gesturing Geneth onto the bridge. Geneth stepped cautiously onto the span and quickly crossed the river. She slipped once but stayed on her feet.

  Ariana waited until Geneth reached the far bank before stepping onto the bridge. It was weakening. The water was bombarding the rigid ice crystals. Ariana felt the pressure through the Stone. Quickly she stepped onto the bridge and started across. It was slick with water and it rocked as her concentration moved to crossing the span instead of maintaining the bridge. She could feel the ice weakening under her shoes. As she took the last step onto the bank, the river swept the Ice Bridge away.

  Ariana and Geneth watched until the last vestiges of ice were gone and then they turned to confront the mist obscuring the riverbank. There was no end to it; it spread as far as the eye could see in either direction. It was as if a bank of clouds had come to earth and formed a barrier. Ariana looked at Geneth.

  “I think we’re safe here for the moment. I’ve got to rest before we go on.” With that, Ariana collapsed on the short grass that verged on the river on that side. She shook and shuddered from the cold energy that still coursed through her. Her teeth chattered. Geneth quickly unrolled their blankets and put it around Ariana’s shoulders. Geneth took a small packet of herbs out of her pack and crushed the leaves under Ariana’s nose. The rich spicy smell filled Ariana’s head and the cold receded. She was so tired.

  “Rest, Ariana. I will take care of you,” murmured Geneth gently. She unrolled their bedding and settled Ariana in the bedding. Shudders still racked her but the cold wasn’t so intense and she thought she might thaw out eventually.

  When she woke sweat covered her and the bedding tied her down. Geneth sat across the fire from her with a pot of savory stew bubbling on the fire. Ariana gave a small moan. Geneth quickly came over to her with a cup of hot fragrant tea.

  “Ariana? Are you awake?” Geneth’s voice was husky with weariness. The sky was still the blue of twilight.

  “How long was I asleep?”

  “I’m not sure.” Geneth untied her hands and helped her to sit up. “Probably a day and a night, Luna’s fever had touched you.” She handed Ariana the tea.

  “My apologies, I had to tie you down, else you would have hurt yourself.”

  “No apology is necessary. You did what you had to do. What is this fever?”

  “Sometimes priestesses of Luna are stricken with her fever. It usually comes about because they draw on too much power too quickly. The afflicted one shakes and shivers and then a fever takes her. Most of the time it is slight no worse than a normal fever caused by sickness leaving the sufferer weakened but healthy. In other more serious cases, the sufferer is delirious sometimes hurting herself or others under the moon dreams sent by Luna. In the worst cases, the fever overpowers a priestess. Then either Luna takes her or she lives the rest of her life with a mind wiped clean of thought.”

  Ariana shuddered. “Thank you.”

  “It is my honor. Drink the tea. It will help overcome the fever.”

  Obediently Ariana sipped the tea. With each swallow, she felt more coherent. After a few minutes and another cup of Geneth’s tea, Ariana was ready to eat. Geneth ladled out two bowls and they settled down to eat. They ate quietly and then sat silently watching the fire dance and flicker. A quiet contentment settled over the pair and Ariana felt restored by both the rest and the tea.

  Ariana sat by the fire long into the night studying the flames and thinking about her dream and the journey. The presence of the Stone in her mind was overpowering. Sometimes she wasn’t sure who was making the decisions. Now that she was past the first gate, the desire to return the Stone was a constant buzzing need.

  A deep throbbing vibration came from the Stone at all times. It was a low urgent hum and it resonated through her ribcage and up to the
back of her skull. It wasn’t painful, yet. It was a constant pressure like a toothache or the dragging pain of cramps. She knew it would only stop when the Stone returned to Galancarrig. However, they would get there in her time and on her schedule, the Stone wasn’t going to rule her.

  The next morning they broke camp and confronted the wall of mist. As far as the eye could see, it stretched endlessly along the shoreline of the river. There was no way around it. It was too high to climb; it reached the starless sky above. The only way would be to go through it. They had to step into the gray rolling mass. She and Geneth looked at each other.

  Ariana trussed her pack to her back, leaving out a small strip of rawhide cord. Geneth had already hefted her pack and stood ready. Ariana looked around, their water-skins were full and there was nothing left at the campsite. Nervously she fingered the dagger at her belt. This was it.

  “Ready? She asked.

  Geneth nodded and seemed to get even paler. Her tightly braided hair pinned up around her ears. Her mother of pearl horn rested at her hip and next to it, she had her silver handmaid’s dagger. She squared her shoulders and smiled slightly.

  “We need to stay together.”

  Ariana took Geneth’s smaller hand in hers and quickly tied them together with the rawhide cord.

  “Ready, One…Two…Three…”

  Their hands gripped tightly and Ariana heard Geneth’s soft prayer to Luna as they stepped forward. There was a moment of intense resistance as if there were a force field barricading the mist. They pushed against it. Bracing themselves with one swift stride, they were inside. Electricity radiated over them. Ariana could feel the hairs on her forearms rise as she entered the mist. It resisted the intrusion and for a moment, Ariana thought they wouldn’t get through.

  The mist was everywhere. There was no beginning and no end. Ariana couldn’t feel Geneth’s hand gripping hers. She tried to keep calm and just put one foot in front of the other. She had to trust in the rawhide rope and in the fact that the mist had to end.

  The swirling mist began to coalesce into distorted features. The faces were demonic and malevolent. Looking closer, she saw Cerynus impaled on a spear and then as she turned away Jarod’s head decorated a pike. But they were still alive, still trying to reach her. She saw their mouths moving and almost she heard them whispering her name, pleading for her help. The more she looked the more real the images seemed.

  Then she saw Rhysin; he loomed over her huge and black with a great red face filled with black sockets of eyes and maggots crawling out of his pale skin. Below him, a small figure huddled, slight and frail. The figure faced away from her and she couldn’t tell if it was male or female but blood puddled at its feet. Rhysin picked the figure up by its hair and turned it to face her raising his great sword. The victim had no eyes just bloody sockets with great streams of blood dripping down her face. Ariana knew that face. It was her face. The sword swept up and with a mighty blow severed her head from the body. “No!”

  She stopped. The images grew more vivid. The mist was trying to stop her. It was using her own fears to stop her. She closed her eyes. She took a step forward, then another. Then the voices started, calling for help, her mother, her Sandy, Fiona, Jarod, Cerynus, Geneth, and Rhyanna. She kept walking. Her hand crept up to the Stone at her throat and the voices eased. She felt the salt water of tears on her cheeks and knew if they didn’t get out soon she would go mad. One more step then another and she felt a change in the darkness. No longer cool she felt the bright hot glare of sunlight against her closed eyes and she blinked them open.

  They were on a vast desert. The mist wall dispersed behind them like a mirage in the intense sunlight. The red sands were level. The huge bronze volcano that knifed up into the intense blue sky dominated the scene. They started walking.

  Chapter Fourteen

  All Ariana wanted was a drink, but they had to conserve water. Heat radiated up from the red sand. There was nothing here except the copper rock shards and the bronze mountain range dominating the horizon. She wiped the stinging sweat from her eyes, squinting in the blazing sun to find a trace of shelter. They couldn’t go on much longer. Geneth’s face and arms were lobster. Wisps of platinum hair straggled off her flushed face. Catching Ariana looking at her, she smiled through blistered lips.

  Ariana turned away. They needed shelter. They’d started walking yesterday. The mountains looked no closer today. Geneth’s fair skin wasn’t used to such exposure. Ariana’s skin was more weathered. If they didn’t get more water, they’d die of thirst instead of sunstroke.

  There was a dust cloud in the distance the reddish plume growing larger. Ariana peered over the red sand. Dark forms coalesced in the swirling sands. Ariana grabbed Geneth’s hand. They stumbled away from the advancing band. Their feet slid on the shifting sand. Geneth’s hand slipped from Ariana’s. She fell to her knees.

  “Come on!” Ariana dragged Geneth to her feet. The hoof beats came closer. The riders circled them. Ariana and Geneth panted to a stop. Tall slender chestnut horses wheeled around them. The riders were a blur of sand colored robes and hoods. Ariana shielded Geneth and braced herself.

  The riders drew closer; Ariana felt the grit and foam thrown up by the pounding hooves. A sorrel came close; the rider reached down grabbing Geneth. Geneth screamed a keening wail quickly muffled by her captor. Ariana reached desperately for the struggling girl. A quick blow, Geneth went limp. They galloped off in a shower of sand. Ariana ran forward, something knocked her to her knees. Dazed, she rose. Strong arms plucked her from the sands and flung her over the pommel of a galloping chestnut. She struggled. Her elbow hit flesh. She heard a hiss of pain. She didn’t have time to savor her slight victory. A sharp blow cracked down on her head. Everything went black.

  The change in rhythm from sand to stone woke her. Slitting open her eyes, she winced. The sunlight made them ache. She tried to remain limp despite her throbbing head. A strong arm jostled her thrusting a flask into her mouth. She jerked back. Realizing it was water she grabbed for it. Pain stopped her. Her hands were bound. Leaning forward she drank greedily choking in her haste. The feel of lukewarm water against cracked lips and parched throat was heaven. She got a few mouthfuls then the water was taken away. She licked her lips to get the last drops.

  Relieved from the awful thirst she looked around. They had reached the foot of the mountains. This close the bronze and copper stone blotted out everything else. The trail spiraled up through the mountains. She got only a glimpse before her captor hooded her.

  The journey became an endless series of creaking saddles, steps on gravel, murmured conversations and mysterious silences. Once during these pauses Ariana thought she heard metal sliding. The heavy hood was smothering her. She was desperate for light and air. The strained muscles in her shoulders screamed with strain. She hadn’t heard a peep from Geneth.

  When it came, her release was a surprise. The hood came off, her bonds were sliced with a blade and she was thrust unceremoniously off the horse. She threw her hands out to break her fall. Her hands were clumsy. She landed awkwardly on hands and knees. The glare of the sun blinded her. She couldn’t move. She blinked tears from her eyes. Her hands and knees stung. Her arms tingled with restored circulation. She sat back on her haunches.

  They were in the flat crater of an extinct volcano, ringed by tall peaks. The grass in the paddocks was vivid against the red walls. There was one main gate hewn out of the rim. Halls were carved from the rock painted different colors. Bright flags waved outside each house. Horses were everywhere; kept in pavilions attached to each house. On the north side, water gushed into a fountain carved like a rearing horse. To the south, rising like a phoenix from the sands was a palace. It was immense but dwarfed by the mountains surrounding it. Elaborate mosaics of gold and amber decorated the front entrance. Her mouth dropped open.

  A small moan brought her back; Geneth lay stunned on the hot sands. Ariana crawled over to Geneth, gently pushing the matted hair from her face. A
bruise marred the sunburned cheek. Ariana looked up at the rider who’d captured Geneth.

  “Look what you...” She said

  “Silence, you will not speak.” The rider ordered.

  “But...” She said.

  There was the slightest motion under the wavering heat and eight drawn bows of gleaming wood inlaid with gold faced her. She froze, staring at the black tipped shafts. Slowly she lifted her hands, subsiding down into the sand.

  She smoothed Geneth’s hair. She couldn’t access the Stone’s full power without giving herself away. But she unobtrusively sent healing through her touch. The bruise faded. Geneth’s sunburn faded from red to pink. Her pale eyes fluttered open. She sat up.

  “What…” Geneth said.

  “Shh.” Ariana gestured, “We’re prisoners.” She whispered.

  “Silence.” The nearest horseman ordered sharply.

  The palace doors opened and a waterfall of horses rippled down the broad stairs. With great precision and power, they circled the prisoners. Galloping at top speed in an intricate dance of chestnut, brown, black and dapple-gray, the horses wove an intricate spiral. Snorting, with ears pricked and flags flying, horses stepped within inches of each other never colliding. Their riders swarmed over them, sometimes on one side or with legs extended up in a strong column to the sky.

  A golden nimbus formed. The shadows of the horses on the gleaming sands elongated. Radiance streamed from pounding hooves, mingling with the flowing manes and tails. The light burst forth in a starburst over the galloping horses. Ariana shielded her eyes.

  The Stone throbbed against her breast in time to the hoof beats. The riders flowed into two lines forming bands of colors ranging from ebony to alabaster. The rider’s robes matched their mounts. They pulled their hoods and masks off, looking up to the bright sky. Their hair was long and the intricate braids flowed down their backs like manes.