The Stone of Cuore

by Stephen I. Carmer

Flying Carpets

  For the third time Wraith had been diminished, but the old ghost was a bit cleverer than anyone was willing to credit him with. Now, dwarfs had taken over the Dragon Mountains and this was turning out to be quite a problem for the Queen. With thousands of dwarfs taking to the highlands, the Kingdom was divided into two halves, east and west. The dwarfs showed no intention of relinquishing their gains in territory. They stayed up in the mountains looking down at the long line of the Queen’s forces far below. As to where Wraith had retreated off to, that was the subject of much speculation. Some thought that he had gone north to gain more allies. Platov and Tate had returned to their gatehouse chamber and aside from the occasional snarl of a passing wolf, all had returned to an uneasy calmness. For whatever reason, and there were many offered, Scorch had not come calling on Tancred Castle, not yet at least.

  Taking lessons in the courtyard, Platov learned a little about the mighty power he held in the palm of his hand, a small iridescent stone capable of immense power. The Sage never said very much, but as the wizards expected the orb to make prophecies of the future, he did offer one or two. Weeks passed by and with the coming of spring, the dwarfs were still occupying the mountains. The Queen’s army was waiting for orders far down below. The Queen apparently had little will to attempt to evict the dwarfs and perhaps her army had even less will to carry out her orders. After weeks of silence it was apparent the last wolf had left the forest, the strong bridge was finally lowered over the muddy moat. With the task of gathering a fresh supply of firewood, the boys at last left the safety of the castle.

  Leaves had not sprouted yet and the ground was damp and spongy. Walking atop the brown rotting leaves of the previous summer, the boys gathered up firewood and loaded it onto the donkey cart. Elves, such had been seen frequently throughout the long winter were about. It was while pulling a fallen trunk suitable for cutting and burning on Tancred’s hearth that Platov stumbled upon a grey stone. Curiously, he picked it up finding it unusually heavy. Rubbing it against another rock, Platov scraped away the outer crust to discover a shiny silver rock underneath. Sparks crinkled from the stone and holding it up, Platov showed it to Tate. Then they were searching for another rock as Tancred had said that meteorites are often found together. Hopeful they turned over every leaf and poked around in the ground at anything that looked promising. Then an elf dashed out and pointed at a place they had not inspected. Tate hurried off to investigate. He too found a heavy, but small gray stone and holding it next to Platov’s they decided that they were the same. Finishing their chore and taking the donkey and cart back to the castle, they took the time and effort to raise the heavy bridge before showing Tancred what they had discovered.

  “Scrape the crust off,” Tancred instructed as he held one of the stones up in his hand. He appeared quite impressed as the properties of the stone were correct, particularly the weight as that was a key characteristic. He had examined the silver stone exposed where Platov had scraped it clean and said it was promising. To determine if the stone had any magical powers would be the next step after cleaning away the crust. The task would take the better part of two afternoons after chores to accomplish. But once done, they held out two stones, shiny, wrinkled, and silver with red veins. Tancred held his breath as he held out his wand. A strange power struggle ensued as either his wand held more magic or the stones did. In the end, the stones won the battle amid a great deal of sparking. But now more experiments would have to be conducted before the stones could be proven genuine moonstones.

  A barrel of water was put into service. Taking a piece of iron, Tancred marked the water level. Then the first stone was plunked into the barrel and another mark was made. Tancred made careful measurements stating that this would reveal the volume of the stone. Sparks flew as Platov reached in and retrieved the stone. Painful as a strange sensation rushed through Platov, he held up the stone watching it casting out furious sparks. Then just the same, Tate plunked his stone into the water. His stone was larger and the water rose just a bit higher. Tate withdrew it and complained of the shock delivered to him. Then he carefully placed his stone on a balancing scale. Counting out lead pellets, Tancred dropped them on the balance until when just the right number of pellets were present the scale hovered in perfect harmony. The pellets were removed and now Platov held his breath. He very much wanted to have a moonstone and placed his on the scale. Like before, lead pellets were added one at a time until the scale was in perfect balance. Tancred raised an eyebrow, but said that the evidence was not conclusive yet. Careful calculations would have to be made before he could be certain. Removing the stones to his laboratory, Tancred intended a series of rigorous test or so he proclaimed.

  “What will you do with yours?” Platov asked hopefully as they wandered into Klara’s kitchen.

  “I will polish it,” Tate said.

  “I will give mine to Scorch,” Platov said with great hope that at last his worst enemy would be appeased.

  “You can have mine,” Tate offered. “I don’t have any wizard powers. To me it is just a stone.”

  “Maybe we can find another,” Platov said dismissing the notion of taking Tate’s stone. It was at that moment that the castle shook and a great blinding flash appeared to have come from the very top of the only tower. Curiously, the boys dashed outside. A great mist had formed over the castle. Undulating and glowing quite brightly in a silvery shimmer the mist swirled about the tower. Then at once the mist sucked back into the high window. Startled by some strange magic Platov and Tate stared at the eerie glow coming from the top of the tower.

  “Tomorrow we will go and see if we can find more,” Platov said eagerly.

  Dinner was waiting for them and Klara was standing at the door calling them in.

  Taking to the table, the boys ate excitedly while wondering if the great experiments would be conclusive. The sight of the great swirling silvery mist was proof enough for Platov, but neither of them had any idea of what really happened to cause that in the first place.

  After dinner, the boys were summoned to the great hall. Tancred had set the stones out in front of the fireplace. Capturing the hearth in their reflection, the wrinkled moonstones glowed orange and red.

  “They are moonstones,” Tancred was please to confirm.

  “Can we look for more?” Tate asked eagerly.

  “Surely,” Tancred said. “Sometimes many can be found where one is found. They fall from the sky that way.”

  “I want to give mine to Scorch so that he will not be my enemy,” Platov said as he examined his stone from all sides. Strangely, he did not want to give it up but then he did not want to be devoured by an angry dragon either.

  “If that is what you choose,” Tancred said. “But it is important that the stone not fall into Wraith’s hands for then he will have the power to defeat you. The strength of the moonstone is very great.”

  Platov sighed as there was always a catch. Then he thought of giving the Stone of Cuore back to Scorch and keeping the moonstone instead. The Stone of Cuore flared refusing such a compromise. Platov sighed.

  “A dilemma,” Sage said with a tad of sarcasm.

  Tancred chuckled as the problem was turning out to be a deep dilemma indeed. Personally he was concerned of what Scorch would do with the moonstone if given to him. The magic powers meant nothing to a dragon, whereas Wraith would be eager to lay his hands on it.

  “Maybe we will find another,” Tate said hopefully. “If not then I will give mine to Platov. I cannot use it for any magic.”

  “Very generous,” Tancred chuckled again while the Sage’s eyes drooped in boredom over the affairs of men and wizards.

  “Wraith will have to be vanquished,” Tancred advised. “Then you may give the moonstone to Scorch.”

  “Perhaps you can convince Scorch to turn against Wraith,” Sage suggested.

  Platov shook his head as he did not know what to do. Then dismissed, they departed for their chamber in the gatehouse. A wol
f was beyond the moat snarling and now Platov doubted that they would be able to go into the forest again. Carefully, he put the Sage and Stone of Cuore on the heavy oak table and then stirred up the fire.

  “A fine mess we weave when we first set out to deceive,” Sage said with a yawn and then its eyes closed.

  “You told me to get the stone,” Platov sighed, and then he stared at the fire considering his choices carefully. Conjuring his council of spiders, he set them out in a row to help him make a decision.

  “I shall keep the moonstone and then I shall always have two enemies,” Platov said with resignation. “One greater and one lesser.”

  “Do you suppose the wolves know what we found?” Tate asked. A snarl from beyond the moat confirmed that question.

  But it was not until later that night as the moonlight flooded in through the narrow arrow slot. A shadow crossed the floor and Platov awakened by the sense of someone watching bolted up from his bed. The elf had returned. Not knowing his name, Platov stared at the tiny elf clad in green with a quiver of arrows and a bow. He was standing on the sill of the arrow slot.

  “Wraith has captured the moonstone in Pristina,” the elf announced. “Scorch is on his way here. With his tail he will shatter this tower. Run!”

  Bolting out of bed, Platov gathered up his Sage and magic stone. With Tate on his heels they bolted out the door to seek refuge in the keep. Spreading the alarm across the courtyard to Kaspar they raced to the front door of the keep. Quintus summoned Tancred while Agdar, Tancred’s dragon on the tower roared with fire.

  “Then we have no choice!” Tancred decreed as he learned of the latest developments. The moonstones were gathered and hurrying they rushed to the top of the keep. Peering out over the courtyard from behind the battlements all watched the sky over the forest. A dragon was coming and Tancred cautioned Agdar to wait.

  “First we negotiate,” Tancred said as they watched the dragon closing in on the castle.

  “Negotiate with a dragon?” Kaspar chuckled. Armed with a crossbow, he took aim out over the gatehouse tower.

  Scorch circled beyond the gatehouse tower demanding an audience. Platov gulped and watched as the dragon circled around the dark skies again. A puff of fire erupted from its nostrils while Agdar plenty peeved snorted in retaliation with his own fiery breath.

  “Speak!” Platov bravely stood up revealing himself.

  Chapter 16: The New Enemy