Time of the Stonechosen (The Soulstone Prophecy Book 2)

by Thomas Quinn Miller

  “But, there was no Great Oak, or mountains?” Ghile said. He wanted to understand what significance his dreaming had. Why was his Islmur's Sacred Grove? He had never been there before.

  “Had you ever seen the grove before?” Ghile said.

  Akira tilted her head.

  He noticed she always seemed to do this when she thought. He found it endearing. Everything from her small perfect feet to her strange accent fascinated him.

  “No, I had never seen it before,” Akira said.

  “What about a shadow creature?” Ghile said. He could tell by the way she jumped and turned to him that she had.

  “Yes, there was such a creature hiding in the woods surrounding the glen. My mother told me to be wary of it and not approach it. That it was dangerous,” Akira said.

  “There is one here, too. I have seen it….and more.” Ghile struggled with his thoughts. How much could he tell Akira about his shadow self and what he found beyond the shadow door? The idea of sharing what he had seen made Ghile so embarrassed.

  But, Adon had also told him to stay away from the shadow creature and that it wasn't safe. It had also attacked Adon. But, now Ghile knew the creature was really him, his shadow. And it had not attacked him, but shown him something from his past. But why? And why did Adon not want him to see it?

  “Well,” Akira said.

  Ghile started and blushed when he realized she was staring at him. “I'm sorry, it's just there is a shadow creature here in my dreaming. Adon, my brother, you remember him, you met him when you visited me the first time. He told me the creature was dangerous as well and to stay away from it. Only…”

  Akira reached out and held her hand just above his. He knew if she tried to touch him her hand would give way, but just having it there, near his, gave him comfort.

  “Only I did seek the creature and found out it was not really a creature at all. It was me. It was my shadow. And it didn't try to hurt me. It showed me something, something from my past. That was what I was thinking about when you found me,” Ghile said.

  “What did it show you?”

  Ghile swallowed. Could he tell her? Could he tell anyone? Maybe she could help him understand what it meant, why it wanted him to see that and why it had said those horrible things to him?

  In the end he told her what his shadow self had shown him. Once he began, it came pouring out. She never interrupted him and once he was through, she just sat there next to him in silence, her grey hand hovering above his.

  “Oh, Ghile. I am sorry for what happened to your brother,” Akira said.

  He nodded. “Thank you.” He felt so much better having shared the experience. She had not judged him or called him a monster.

  “What do you think it means?” Ghile said.

  “I don't know, but I wonder what mine would have shown me and why both your brother and my mother didn't want us to see it?” Akira said.

  “He is not my brother,” Ghile said. It was the first time he had put words to the thought.

  “I know, Ghile. I realize she was not my mother, too. But, it doesn't change how wonderful it had been to see her again.”

  “I know,” Ghile said. “Even though I know it is not really Adon, I can't help think some part of him is there, though. Just like with Muk.”

  “The goblin?”

  “Yes, even though it isn't truly him, he remembers what happened in the cave and before. It shared with me its journey over the mountain and how it controlled the worgs from the forbidden city it had come from.

  “I hate goblins,” Akira said.

  They both chuckled and then laugh out loud. Ghile couldn't remember the last time he had done that.

  “I will come for you, Akira,” Ghile said.

  Akira rose. “I must go.”

  Ghile jumped up. “Wait, don't leave. Why do you have to leave?” How had what he said upset her? He had been sure it would make her happy.

  She shook her head, turning to hide her face and faded from view.

  Ghile stood there on the shore playing things over in his head and trying to understand what he had said wrong.

  In the end he decided he had a lot to learn about women. The best thing he could do was to speak with Islmur as soon as possible and find out everything he could about the soulstones, the prophecy, and what he could do to help Akira and her brother.

  Another thought occurred to him then and it was not one he was familiar with. Ghile had never been one for vengeance, but he would find that sorcerer in the City of the Fallen and make sure he paid for what he had done.

  21

  Dinner with Dagbar

  Finngyr had grown tired of these private dinners, this settlement, the accents, and most of all Magister Dagbar.

  He drained his tankard of the last vestiges of hardy stout and placed it on the wooden table. Wooden, of all things; the crazy magister and his obsession with wood. The scrape of the pitcher warned him and leaned back just as a dwarven servant appeared at his side to refill his drink.

  Finngyr watched in silence. The servant was an old dwarf, with more than a little grey in his beard. He should have been sitting near a hearth somewhere with younglings on his knee, not serving table. His face was tattooed half blue, ridiculous Allwynians. Dagbar surrounded himself with them, dwarf and human alike. Almost as bad as being waited on by a human. At least the Magister had sense enough to keep his human servants on his side of the table. They looked too old to be servants, as well, for that matter. Everything about this place grated on him.

  Finngyr looked about the private dining room. The silverwood walls reflected the light from the fire burning in the hearth and bathed the room in no small amount of light. One of the few rooms at the top of the Bastion in the Magister's private chambers, it barely held the long banquet table and side serving boards. It looked more like a meeting room than a dining hall. But, even with the close confinement, the place felt open to Finngyr. It was all the wood, it felt makeshift and fragile. The placed lacked the permanence of stone.

  Finngyr would have preferred eating in the great hall with all the other inhabitants of the Bastion, but Magister Dagbar had insisted he see personally to such important guests from the capital. Keeping them from overhearing all the conversations and so he could question them each evening was closer to the truth.

  For over two weeks they had been the Magister's “diplomatic guests”. Magister Dagbar was more than willing to give them free reign of the settlement. Though his disappointment was obvious when Finngyr didn't start a riot on the first day. In honesty, it had taken all of Finngyr's restraint not to enact Daomur's judgement on the deserving, and there were many in this place. Instead, the knights had long since scoured the settlement looking for any sign of a stonechosen. Even though they couldn't perform the rites again, nothing stopped them from walking the streets with their hammers in their hands, reciting the words of the rite to themselves. Of course, all this was done under the guise of gathering information about the whereabouts of Knight Griff.

  Knight Kjar had been especially useful in setting up a network of well paid informants who kept him abreast of all the comings and goings. Finngyr had to admit, although begrudgingly, he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own. He had no love of these border settlements with all their human vermin and could barely tolerate the smell in the Cradle. But, with the crowding caused by the trouble from the Deepwood and constant traffic of the trade market, this place positively reeked.

  He watched the other two Knights as they engaged Magister Dagbar in conversation. They played their parts well and even seemed to enjoy listening to the Magister's inane ramblings. Finngyr had decided early on that he would limit his own interactions with the Magister and the younger knights were to go out of their way to win his trust.

  After the battle with the orcs, Knight Kjar had told him everything on that rocky outcropping and Finngyr had made sure Knight Horth understood his place and his chances of leaving the settlement alive should he cause Finngyr to
fail. It was likely Magister Dagbar knew the part Knight Horth was meant to play and might let something important slip in his impatience to force the young knight's hand and get the excuse he needed to be rid of them. It was no trouble playing the part of the Knight Justice who despised everything about the place and would like nothing more than to purge it clean. It was true.

  Finngyr confirmed early on that the Right of Culling had not resulted in any deaths, more's the pity. No one admitted to seeing Knight Justice Griff after the rites, either. Finngyr had searched the Bastion from top to bottom with no luck. Though, he didn't think the Magister would have the audacity to imprison a Knight Justice. Then there was the Knight Justice's griffon. If he was still in the area his griffon would have been spotted. Finngyr had little doubt he would have heard the complaints about missing livestock or the odd human.

  Though, there was no indication where Knight Griff had gone and no traces of any stonechosen, they had gleaned other information during their outings. The settlement was under attack by strange creatures from the Deepwood. White abominations that raided in the night and killed or carried off any they found. Those they took they somehow infected with their contagion and swelled their ranks. There were as many rumors on where they came from and why as there were tongues spreading them. As curious as Finngyr was about the creatures, he could not help but see the hand of Daomur in their presence. They had driven every human in the settlement from the outlying hamlets and villages and behind these walls. It made his search that much easier.

  Magister Dagbar's treaty with the Elves was of more interest. Rumor placed it on the verge of collapse. The Deepwood was all but closed by the elves, or the alvar as they named them here. Silly name, really. Who cared what the elves called themselves. They were elves.

  It seemed the elves blamed the settlement for the abominations infesting their precious Deepwood. The reason for that, other than humans from the settlement swelling its ranks, Dagbar had not been able to discover. Yet another blessing from Daomur, as far as he was concerned. Anything that would hurt this self-righteous wood lover was welcomed.

  “Enjoying your meal, Knight Justice Finngyr? I thought I almost saw a grin. Something sweet perhaps,” Dagbar said.

  Finngyr quickly composed his features.

  “Dessert, then!” Horth said, rubbing his hands together with enthusiasm.

  Dagbar laughed out loud.

  Finngyr could only shake his head and even Horth and Kjar looked askance at each other. Such an open display of emotion, had Dagbar forgotten what it meant to be a dwarf?

  “No dessert,” Finngyr said. He stared at Knight Horth.

  “Surely something else, then? Cheese, perhaps?”

  Finngyr heard the old dwarf servant already lifting something behind him before Finngyr could decline. “I said, no.”

  “You are a most gracious host, Magister Dagbar,” Knight Kjar said quickly. “But, I believe we are done.”

  Finngyr slid his chair back from the table, not waiting for the servants to do it for him. He noted the human servants had not moved from the wall and were looking at each other in concern. Magister Dagbar had not moved and even he looked suddenly discomforted.

  “Please, remain seated, there are matters I wish to discuss,” Magister Dagbar said.

  Something odd was going on here? Both Knight Horth and Knight Kjar half stood, waiting for Finngyr to take the lead. He sat back down. “Go on.”

  “It….it seems…I think you have been here long enough,” Magister Dagbar finally said. He breathed out audibly and seemed to set his mind on his course. That or he had just settled on this course.

  “Most gracious, indeed,” Finngyr said. He decided he would play along. “Go on.”

  “The previous Knight Justice left after the Rites, as was reported to your superiors when they first inquired. You have searched the Emporium and found nothing to the contrary. I see no reason for you to remain.”

  Both the younger knights could not hide their astonishment. They both watched Finngyr, waiting to see his reaction.

  Was Dagbar deliberately trying to anger him? To what end? In all the times they had climbed to the top of the bastion to dine in this wretched bundle of overpriced sticks, Dagbar had always been diplomatic. He was not wont of emotion, he carried on like a human, but never confrontational.

  There had been times where Finngyr felt the Magister tested him with questions concerning their beliefs. Dagbar had even gone so far as to question if their order knew the true meaning of what Daomur meant when he said the dwarves were to shepherd the humans and watch over them. He had even espoused the belief his settlement was following the doctrines closer than the Temple of Justice. Finngyr had not taken the bait and recognized it for what it was, a planned attempt to upset him. But this outburst was sudden. Unplanned.

  Finngyr pushed his chair back and stood up abruptly, the younger knights quickly following suit. “You are right of course, Magister Dagbar. We will leave in the morning. Excuse us, it is time for our evening prayers.”

  The Magister's jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered. “Now see here, I'm not finished.”

  Finngyr was already walking out of the room, leaving Magister Dagbar shouting at his back.”

  Knight Horth was the last out of the room and shut the door behind him. He hurried to catch up. “What do you know, Knight Justice?”

  Even he could tell something was not quite right. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

  “Knight Kjar, what news today?” Finngyr said. They usually waited until after evening prayers to hear what Kjar's informants had shared.

  Kjar scratched the side of his large nose as he thought. They passed under an archway and began their descent down the stone spiral stairs.

  “Most had nothing to share. The guard on the south gate had something of interest, they admitted a druid and her shieldwarden this morning. Shortly thereafter a sorcerer and his apprentice entered,” Kjar said.

  A druid and a sorcerer in the same day? Finngyr stopped and considered. As he thought, he realized he had not seen even one sorcerer in the Freehold. There was comment of a druid and her shieldwarden being here, though he had yet to encounter them, but now there was another pair.

  “Did he get a name from this sorcerer?”

  “Of course, Knight Justice. It is the law. The sorcerer was Almoriz from Whispering Rock and his apprentice, Rolf or Riff,” Kjar said.

  “Riff,” Finngyr said. “The sorcerer old and grey. Yes, I know of these humans.”

  “No, Knight Justice. The guard said the sorcerer was young and the apprentice even younger,” Kjar said with certainty.

  “That's it!” Finngyr said. “Hurry, we have wasted enough time already. Knight Horth, go to your rooms and gather your gear. Take it to the south gate and summon the griffons. Be ready to fly. Go now!”

  Horth started to say something, but thought better of it and bowed, then hurried down the stairs.

  Finngyr turned to Knight Kjar.

  “Knight Justice, I apologize, I don't understand-” Kjar said.

  “Of course not. You did not know Almoriz of Whispering Rock is old and grey. Whoever that was who arrived, it was not Almoriz and that was not his apprentice,” Finngyr said, already moving towards his room.

  Finngyr all but ran through the hallways of the bastion, Kjar hurrying to keep pace. He knew word would reach Magister Dagbar that they had not gone to the shrine room and had been moving at a brisk pace.

  “Do you think it is the stonechosen?” Kjar said in a low tone. They had past more than a few of the bastion's residents who hurriedly got out of their way.

  Finngyr stopped outside the low stone door of his chambers. “I think the Magister was trying to keep us there at dinner, stalling. I think he knows of these new arrivals and if he was willing to openly confront us, he hasn't found them yet. I want to find them before he does.”

  “Do you think I bought Robon enough time?” Dagbar said.

  Ulbert listened at th
e door a moment more before he took the seat Knight Justice Finngyr had just vacated. The older dwarf poured himself a fresh tankard of ale from the pitcher he had been serving from. He made sure to grab a fresh tankard. His hatred of the cullers was too great to ever allow him to drink from the same tankard.

  “By the All Mother, I hope so,” Ulbert said. “They know something is up, that is for certain. They ran from here like their beards were on fire. You took a great risk telling them to leave, Dagbar. By law the Knight Justice could have accused you of interfering with his investigation.”

  Dagbar nodded and then shrugged. “I am not much for thinking on my feet, old friend. I hoped he had. He would have had to arrest me and who knows how long that would have taken.”

  “The time it would have taken to whack you over the head with that hammer. Arrested, indeed,” Ulbert said.

  “I only wish we had news of the stonechosen's arrival sooner so we could have properly prepared some distraction for the cullers.” Dagbar squeezed the bridge of his nose and sighed. It had been a risk he had to take. And why not, he had been walking a dangerous path since the cullers' arrival. He needed them to make a mistake, but was not willing to risk anyone else in the process. What was one more roll of the dice?

  By all accounts, Finngyr was a hot headed zealot who should have struck out at Dagbar any number of times since his arrival. He almost had when he saw the golems. But, there were just too many innocents there in the market and Dagbar's people were too loyal. Too many would have died trying to help him. Dagbar couldn't allow that.

  That Horth had been a disappointment. Dagbar was assured by his contacts on the Judge's Council that the young knight had been well payed to cause an incident. Though both young knights seemed pliable enough, it became obvious over time they had no intention of betraying Finngyr. Dagbar wondered what had happened there.

  The law dictated he had to allow them to investigate the disappearance of the previous knight justice, but every day they stayed in the Emporium increased the chances they would be here when Ghile arrived. Now it seemed his fears had come to pass.