The Elderine Stone

by Lawson, Alan

  “So what is this news?” the old man asked, “What news is so urgent that it merited my coming?”

  Jason saw that the expression on Lord Elindril's face was much like the one he had witnessed yesterday. Elindril looked at Talathin and in a low voice, said,

  “I believe the time has come. She will try and break the seal.”

  The room was still. No one said a word. Jason and Emily stood wondering what this seal was, and how it being broken would cause alarm between two such noble and heroic characters. The wizard was the first to speak.

  “Hmm, yes, I can see how this could be of some concern. Am I correct in saying that this boy has some connection with the Stone?”

  Elindril nodded, and continued,

  “I believe that Jason could be the answer to what we seek. With the arrival of the Dark Lady some years ago, we saw an era of darkness spread over the lands. It had been prophesied that a second shall follow in her wake. The same birth for them both in this world but different paths they will follow”

  The wizard began to chew on his lip, and looked down at Jason.

  “Perhaps it would be in the best interests of the young ones if we discussed these matters somewhere a little more secluded, Elindril.”

  The elf nodded, and called Melina into the room.

  “Melina, take Emily and Jason to their quarters, there are some things I wish to discuss with Master Talathin alone. Jason, I apologise for inviting you to breakfast and failing to join you. But please feel free to look around our wonderful city. After all, you may be here for a while. Glen Tirel could be your new home.”

  Aber Talathin expressed a look of distaste at Elindril’s invitation, but hid the reaction by continuing to chew on his lip.

  With a small bow toward Elindril, Melina beckoned Emily and Jason to follow her. Elindril and Aber walked through a side door, already deep in their muted and private discussion. As he followed Melina and Emily Jason just picked out the words “end the evil in the north” drifting in the Elven lord’s resonant tones. A cold hand gripped his heart as he joined the others outside.

  “What do you suppose they are talking about?” Emily asked, as soon as Melina left them to their rooms. So great was her curiosity, she forgot to introduce herself, choosing instead to voice the thought that had itched in her head since they had left the two men.

  “I’m not sure,” Jason replied, “I’m really not too sure about anything at the moment.”

  Emily looked at him with her head tilted to the side, reminding Jason of a rather confused chipmunk. She sat down on the bed, and remembered her manners.

  “Oh, I’m Emily Emerald Talathin.” She gave a little smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Hi, I’m Jason. Jason Greaves. Um, well it is nice to meet you too.”

  He sat down on the bed opposite Emily’s.

  “That’s a rather odd name, “Jason”. Where are you from? Are you a traveller from the east?”

  “No,” Jason said vaguely, “I’m from Ireland.”

  Jason looked at his watch, and realised it had stopped.

  “Hmm well I’d have to say I’ve never heard of that place. Must be Akerian...”

  Emily was only half paying attention to what she was saying, spending every second going over the small part of the conversation between Elindril and her Grandfather that she had heard. She had a funny feeling about Jason, and was in fact pretty sure she knew who he was, or more precisely what he was.

  Jason looked around, trying to see if he could recognise anything from the world he knew as home.

  “What are you doing? You look silly,” Emily remarked.

  “Oh, I’m just looking for things. Actually, anything that I can recognise as something I know. Something similar to anything from my world.”

  “Oh I see. Well, perhaps we should take up Lord Elindril’s invitation and have a look around the city. I have heard that elvish cities are spectacular, and I only got a brief look around when we got here. My Grandfather has no time for anything except for business.”

  “That would be great. It might help lift my mind a little, and if I’m here to stay, I better get used to things.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Emily said, springing to her feet, “I’ll have you shaped into a typical Hasparian before you can say, “Miriwena Smudgels ate Friggles pie!””

  “What?” Jason asked, looking and feeling very confused.

  “Oh, never mind!” Emily said with a giggle. “Let’s go explore, before they send us to our beds.”

  Emily ran out the door, quite obviously full to the brim of excitement.

  Jason had a feeling that Emily could be quite a handful, but he was happy to find someone so cheerful, and if he was here forever, then he was glad he had met someone who could be potentially very entertaining. Without another thought, he hurried out the door after her.

  Jason soon caught up with Emily, who was standing outside looking from left to right, as though weighing up the potential for fun in each direction.

  “So which way shall we go first?” she asked, breathlessly, but continued while Jason was still opening his mouth to form an answer. “I think the city is a circle, so it doesn’t really matter which way we go, though I have to say I think we should go right, it’s much brighter that way, don’t you think?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Jason replied. He didn’t notice much difference in brightness from either the left side or the right, but remembered what Tommy the Milkman had always told him: “Never argue with a woman, son, they can’t half throw a good pint of milk.” He decided to go with Emily’s suggestion, fearing the milk bottles they might have in this world, or what the counterpart could be.

  The trees surrounding the city blocked out much of the sunlight, but there were many lanterns hung from hooks either in posts along the pathways or hanging from ropes descending from the treetops. There was a pleasant green-blue light about the area, giving a sense of calm and tranquillity. Some of the buildings were up amongst the trees. Jason looked up and watched as a group of elves gracefully walked along the tree top platforms from one upper area to the next.

  “This place is so strange.” he said at last, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.”

  “I can’t really imagine what your world must be like, Jason, though I’m sure you’ll get used to things here, eventually. Besides I’m here, although I don’t know how long for, but if I can, I’ll help you as best as I can to settle in.”

  “Thanks Emily. I think I might need all the help I can get. In fact, I definitely need it now - I don’t even know if I’m coming or going!”

  “Coming or going where?”

  “Oh, it just means that I’m not sure what I’m doing, which is very true.”

  “Well, we’ll soon sort that out,” Emily said purposefully.

  She stopped outside what looked like a shop.

  “Ah, well, here we are. My mother told me to try and get a visit to this shop if I could. I honestly didn’t think I’d get a chance. Are you coming in?”

  Emily entered the shop before Jason could get a chance to answer her.

  The shop was bathed in the same light as that outside, but when they entered, there was a much greater and more intense feeling of peace. There wasn’t much in the shop, just a few tables covered in silky blue fabric, with boxes placed on them. In each box sat a few different coloured stones, each one carefully labelled. Jason looked at a few and read their titles: memory stone, summoning stone, reading stone. Emily seemed deeply intrigued by each of them, carefully picking each one up, turning it around, placing it down, and moving on to the next. Jason hated shopping and had heard how bad it was to shop with girls. Now it seemed, however, that it was his turn to experience the tedium for himself. Unfortunately in his case, there didn’t seem to be any waiting seats, in this small shop to cater for those who were less interested in the merchandise or the shopping experience.

  It felt like hours passed while Emily continued her ri
tual of examining the strange stones. Jason was finding it very taxing indeed to work out what interest she could possibly have with them. He didn’t bother to ask her though, as he knew this would only hold things up, which was probably the one thing that he would least like to happen at this very moment. Instead he looked around the shop himself and every so often poked a few things, he was slowly losing the will to stay awake, that was, until he found a strange black disc on the wall. The disc kept changing every few moments, depicting different scenes. According to the plaque posted below it was entitled:

  Scenes from Haspar

  The Seeing Eye

  Absorbed in the pictorial history, Jason almost jumped when he heard Emily come up behind him.

  “Well? Are you ready? It’s getting pretty late, and we should probably head back to our rooms. Don’t want to upset the old folk now, do we?”

  It was very typical Jason thought that as soon as he had found something that he might enjoy spending a reasonable amount of shopping time studying they had to leave. Rather than argue to stay longer, he agreed to leave. “Yeah, I am feeling a bit tired,” truthfully he had put little effort into trying to hide his relief that they were finally leaving the shop - and empty handed at that. All that time and she didn’t even buy a thing. “Women!” he thought, with feeling. Tommy the Milkman would’ve been proud.

  It didn’t seem to take as long walking back to their quarters. Jason was finding it hard to believe that he managed to spend the majority of the day walking around this town and only going to a few shops. By the time they arrived, Jason was truly feeling tired and couldn’t wait to reach his bed.

  As they entered the room Jason was gratified to see that someone had brought all his new belongings from the room he had stayed in the night before to this double one that he could share with Emily. Sleepily they both went to wash and change.

  “I think we’d better get some sleep. It’s getting late, and the grimbats are out.” Emily said, as she proceeded to get into the bed.

  “Uh, grimbats?” Jason asked. But it was too late for any response. Emily had already managed to fall into a deep sleep. Jason pulled back the cover of the bed he was sitting on and got in. Surrendering to sleep and dreams sooner than he would’ve thought possible. They both lay there sleeping, as the night hours passed.

  “You know who he is… You know who I am. He will come to me…”

  The soft, ghostly woman’s voice carried on the air startled Emily into wakefulness. As quietly as she could, she eased herself into a sitting position and looked around to see if there was any movement. The room was silent, and still. Emily let out a relieved sigh – it wouldn’t be the first time she had had vividly realistic dreams. She looked over at Jason and saw that he was still sound asleep, and started to wriggle back down under the covers.

  “He shall come… it has been foreseen…”

  Emily definitely heard it that. Her eyes wide, she carefully lifted the cover of her bed, just in case there was something, some creature, about. She stretched out her arm, and poked Jason a few times in his shoulder. He didn’t move.

  “Jason, wake up… Did you hear that?” Emily whispered.

  Jason started to shift in his bed. She increased the pressure of the pokes and soon he was somewhat awake. She whispered again,

  “Jason, did you hear that voice?”

  “What voice?” Jason grumbled his weary reply, rubbing at his arm crossly, “What time is it anyway?”

  Then on a breeze of soft wind, the voice spoke again.

  “He shall come, for it is meant to be. He shall come to me.”

  With that, Jason jumped out of his bed in fright.

  “W-w-what was that? Who was that?”

  “I don’t know,” Emily replied, ‘but I think she, or whatever it was, was referring to you.”

  Jason looked at Emily with a confusion etched upon his face.

  “None of this is real,” he said, as much to himself as to Emily. “It can’t be happening to me. I wish I had never placed that stupid stone on that stupid pedestal.”

  Emily’s mouth dropped.

  “What? It must be...yes…” She looked up at Jason, a mixture of triumph and worry in her voice. “I know what my grandpa was talking about now. You! The Elderine Stone! You entered the portal, didn’t you?”

  “Well I guess I did… I think,” Jason replied, “but what does that mean? And what is this Elderine stone?”

  Emily looked at him, then down at the earth floor. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked straight into Jason’s eyes. He could see sadness and fear in her eyes. She began to tell Jason the story of the Elderine Stone.

  “Long ago, a dark creature lived on these lands. It was a creature with a blackened heart which would never know joy. It destroyed everything. There was no happiness, no hope, no respite from its cruelty, until a group came forth known only as the Order of the Elderine. They travelled to the lands in the north where the lord of Darkness had defeated Lady Averin. He had stolen her lands, her temple and her magical powers. A small group, all that remained of the Elderine Order, marched north back towards their old home to fight the demon. They destroyed thousands of his minions as they went. Only three made it to his chamber, one of the Averinite guards, a priestess and a stone master. With their last effort they captured him and held him within a prison. A prison of made of crystal - The Elderine Stone. The land knew peace for many years, and the Order of the Elderine passed into time and legend. The stone was placed on an altar hidden to all men. Then one day a woman arrived. The king’s hunting party reported her stating they had seen a strange woman near the northern side of the Elderine Forest at the river, but she just seemed to vanish, and was never found. Within a few months strange beasts started to appear across the lands, beginning in the north. That was a number of years ago. Since that time, things have become worse. And now, with your arrival, the prophecies are coming true.”

  A tear dropped from Emily’s eye as she lowered her head. Jason was going to ask her what these prophecies were, but in his heart he knew. He knew from what he had seen and heard today that Lord Elindril and others believed that he was the one from the prophecies, the one who would fight the evil in the north. Jason moved over to Emily and put his arm around her. She raised her head and said in a quiet voice,

  “You know… There will be a lot of people who will try and stop you. My Grandfather is one. He thinks that only a powerful warrior of our lands who is a descendant of the Order of the Elderine can destroy the evil. He won’t let you go.”

  “What do you mean, ‘he won’t let me go’?” Jason replied.

  “You have to get away from here before it’s too late!”

  She pushed back from him, and stared earnestly into his eyes.

  “You can stop her, I know you can. And… I-I-I’ll come with you, if that’s ok with you?”

  Jason looked at her blankly. He was thinking very hard. This had all been too much for him.

  “Ok, Emily. You’re probably right. If there are people who will try and stop me I think it’s best that we get out of here, and you’d better believe that you are coming with me, ‘cause I have no idea what’s out there.”

  Emily smiled warmly and jumped to her feet. She grabbed her staff and cloak and began to stuff some clothing into her knapsack, motioning that Jason should do the same.

  “We should go now, before my grandfather comes for you.”

  Within a few moments they were ready. Setting her face with a determined expression, Emily swept out the door.

  Taking a deep breath, Jason followed her into the woods.

  Chapter Three: Into the Woods

  Jason and Emily crept silently out of their room, carefully treading across the floor so they wouldn’t risk disturbing anyone. Luckily for them there didn’t seem to be anyone about. As agile as they could, they crept between the buildings and the trees keeping a close eye out for anyone that might be keeping a close eye on them. Thankfully they had explored the area
earlier when it was bright, which offered then a great advantage in navigating their way back to the denser forest, they made a quick dash from behind one of the elven buildings and slipped into the shadow of the Elderine Forest.

  The forest was dark, and seemed strangely alive as Jason looked up at the towering green giants that branched out and concealed the night sky. Jason shuddered as they passed the first grouping of trees it was as though they formed a barrier between the calm elven settlement and the foreboding presence of the Elderine Forest. They moved almost noiselessly along the path. Fallen pine needles and other woodland debris creating a soft carpet that absorbed every footstep. The very atmosphere seemed designed to muffle their passing, and Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that he was walking in the presence of a great power, something that was aware and intelligent in a way he couldn’t understand. Between the trees, the dark was absolute. Every now and then, the moon stole through small gaps in the dense forest canopy, sending shards of light onto the trail ahead. Jason peered further into the forest, barely able to discern the endless maze of trees, bushes and other wildly overgrown plant life. His grand dreams of escape dimmed in this dark place. The simple lack of light made it seem impossible that they might find a way out. He stopped. Emily walked on a little further, then sighed and shrugged, turning to face him.

  “We’re not going to make our way out of this place like this,” she remarked, in a tone that suggested she was thoroughly put out by nature’s failure to lend a helping hand. “Maybe we should stop somewhere, and sleep until morning. I suppose we’ve given ourselves a little bit of a head start, at least.”

  “Good idea,” Jason said, and pointed over to a rock lying in a slightly open area, which the moon had just managed to break through and light up. To his mind, it made the perfect resting place, at least compared to anywhere else in the near surroundings.