‘I’ve just spoken to Ash,’ she replied, her gaze moving from Rhyn to look at the others. ‘He believes everything Esther told us. It seems our father has been manipulating Ash almost his entire life to help him get closer to the Liftsal. He made it seem like the Unfaih were the enemy and that you were hiding magical healing water from the world. But he knows now that our father is only here for his own personal obsession. Ash appears to regret everything he’s done on the Captain’s orders.’
‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ Jack muttered under his breath.
Sloane shot him a hard look. ‘I know it’s hard to believe,’ she said. ‘But I think he’s telling the truth. He seems really shaken up. He did a lot of terrible things in the Captain’s name, and I think he’s struggling to come to terms with it all.’
They all looked at her with doubt-filled eyes. They weren’t convinced, and Sloane didn’t blame them. Not after Ash had already betrayed them once before.
‘Look, you can decide whether or not you believe him later. But Ash has told me what my father has planned. And it isn’t good.’
‘What did he tell you?’ Rhyn asked, his hands tensing at his sides.
Sloane took a breath as she gathered her thoughts. She tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat. Rhyn, Kai and Jack were already sceptical, and Sloane was worried about how they would react. She had to make sure they took Ash’s warning seriously, whether or not it was true. They needed to somehow confirm the information as soon as possible because if it was true, they were going to have to act quickly.
‘Ash told me that the Captain has given the all clear for another hundred human ships to come to Aeris. That would mean a full colonisation of the planet.’
‘Why would he do that when there’s a war going on?’ Jack asked in disbelief. ‘The Brakys could attack at any time.’
‘He clearly doesn’t care about that,’ Sloane responded. ‘We know that all he cares about is the Liftsal. He has gone to join the Brakys, and he must have called for more ships so the creatures can add thousands of humans to their army.’
She could see the colour draining from Rhyn’s face as she spoke, and Kai and Jack were frowning as they tried to process the information. Regardless of whether they trusted Ash, the idea of thousands of humans arriving on Aeris when the Brakys had access to the World of the Woods was terrifying.
‘When did he say the ships were arriving?’ Rhyn asked.
‘He doesn’t know. But they were called before the battle with the humans. It could be months; it could be weeks; it could be days.’
‘Couldn’t Ash be lying?’ Kai said, somewhat hopefully.
‘Perhaps,’ Sloane replied. ‘But we can’t afford to risk ignoring him.’
‘Would your father have told anyone else of his plans?’ Rhyn asked. ‘What about Captain Denton?’
Sloane shook her head. ‘Ash said our father told no one else he had sent for the ships. It’s clearly a trap. The Brakys are probably waiting for more humans to arrive and that’s why we haven’t heard anything from them.’
‘I have an idea,’ Jack said. He was staring thoughtfully at his hands as he spoke but then lifted his head to look at them all. ‘There might be a way we can tell if Ash is lying or not.’
Sloane nodded for him to go on.
‘Any communications between the settlement, other ships and Earth is logged. There would have to be a record of the order the Captain gave. If we go to the settlement, we may be able to find proof of how many ships are coming to Aeris and when the call was made. If it was made at all.’
Jack looked at each of them as he waited for a response.
‘Can you access these logs?’ Sloane asked.
Jack shook his head. ‘You need a certain level of clearance to open the camp’s communication history, and hacking isn’t exactly my speciality. But Captain Denton should have access.’
‘I’m sure he’ll show them to us if we ask,’ Sloane said. ‘This is just as important to him as it is to us.’
Rhyn was silent as he considered their options, but he quickly turned to Jack once his mind was made up.
‘I want you to go to the settlement now,’ he said. ‘Tell Denton about Ash’s claim and that we need access to these logs to prove it. Once you know, either way, return here immediately. If there’s any truth to this, we may need to move on the Brakys sooner than we’d hoped.’
Jack nodded along with each instruction Rhyn gave, his eyes surprisingly serious for once. Jack usually had a joke for everything, but he seemed to understand the severity of the situation.
‘Anything else?’ he asked, pushing his chair out so he could stand.
Rhyn shook his head. ‘Just hurry.’
Jack swallowed nervously as he turned and made his way to the door, but he paused briefly as he passed Sloane.
‘Can you tell Rowe where I’ve gone?’
‘I will.’ Sloane nodded. ‘Good luck.’
Silence filled the room as Jack shut the door behind him. It wasn’t hard to see that both Kai and Rhyn were deep in thought. Kai’s expression was one of nervous anxiety, while Rhyn’s eyes had narrowed and his brow was creased as a determined look covered his face. His stare had lowered to look at his hand, and Sloane glanced down and noticed the shard of green stone from her mother’s pendant in his palm. It was smaller than the other piece of the Oblivion Stone that Joran had given them and looked tiny in Rhyn’s grasp.
‘It’s hard to believe that was in my mother’s locket all this time,’ Sloane said softly, as she studied it. Her heart ached as she thought of her mother guarding the small fragment of rock for centuries. When she had given the necklace to Sloane on the day she died, her mother had told her it would protect her. The other shard of the stone had done that and more during the battle with the humans. But they still knew so little about the Oblivion Stone, and Sloane wondered if the piece hidden within the locket had somehow helped to keep her safe all these years.
‘Yes, it’s remarkable,’ Rhyn agreed, as he lifted his hand up to inspect the dull piece of stone more closely. The light in the room barely reflected across its surface, and there wasn’t even a slight glow to it, unlike the other fragment that was on the table.
‘Can I take a look at it?’ Sloane asked.
Rhyn nodded and held the stone out to Sloane. The moment he placed it on her open palm, a spark zapped through her hand, and she felt a pulse rush through her skin as the stone started to glow green. Sloane nearly dropped it in surprise, and her eyes were wide as she looked up at the others.
‘What the hell was that?’ she gasped. Rhyn and Kai seemed just as shocked as she was. The stone had appeared dull and lifeless in Rhyn’s hand, but as soon as Sloane touched it, the startling green glow of energy had shone from it. She took two cautious steps forwards and lowered the stone onto the table. It continued to glow brightly, despite no longer being in contact with Sloane’s skin, like it was now awake after a long slumber.
‘Why did it do that?’ she asked, her voice holding the slightest of trembles, which betrayed her distress.
Kai frowned and moved over to the book Joran had given him. He started flipping through the pages until he paused on one. He dragged his finger down the page, moving past sentence after sentence before stopping under one line of text.
Kai slowly lifted his head to look at Sloane. ‘When the other fragment of the Oblivion Stone started to glow again during the battle, I assumed that the energy it absorbed from the explosion had caused it to come to life again,’ he said slowly. ‘But the bomb wasn’t the only variable at that moment. It also touched you for the first time.’
Sloane frowned at his explanation. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I’ve tried to use the stone myself like we did the other day with the dagger,’ he continued, ignoring her question as he stood and clasped his hands around the back of the chair. ‘I tried absorbing energy into the stone and attempted to draw energy out of it. But I couldn’t get it to work.�
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‘I still don’t understand what you’re getting at,’ she said.
‘I’ll be back,’ Kai responded, still refusing to answer Sloane. He moved to the doorway and left the room in a hurry.
Sloane turned to go after him, but Rhyn grabbed her wrist to stop her.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘It’s best to leave him to it when he gets like this,’ Rhyn said.
‘I just wanted to—’
‘I know,’ he said, cutting her off. ‘But Kai will be back.’
Sloane huffed out a breath and went to sit in Jack’s empty chair. Her hands tapped restlessly on her lap as she waited. There was a feeling of pressure building in her chest like she’d never experienced before. Everything she thought she knew was shifting. It was happening so fast, and Sloane didn’t know how to keep up with the changes as they evolved around her. She had a bad feeling that her life wasn’t quite finished being turned upside down.
When Kai finally returned, he had a very confused looking Lorian in tow.
‘What’s going on?’ the elder asked, as Kai ushered him into the room and directed him to sit down.
‘I need you to explain something to me,’ Kai answered. He brought Joran’s book over and placed it on the table in front of Lorian. Then he pointed at the page he’d been reading before.
‘This is the list of ingredients Joran used to create the Oblivion Stone.’
‘It’s illegible scribble,’ Lorian muttered.
Kai scanned the writing on the page and tapped his finger on one item on the list. ‘This one here,’ he said, his tone rising higher with excitement. ‘Can you read it?’
Lorian frowned, and there was almost a flicker of guilt in his gaze as he turned his attention back to the book. He sighed slowly before raising his eyes to look up at Kai again.
‘It says, Unfaih blood.’
‘Unfaih. Blood,’ Kai repeated. ‘Can you explain why the Oblivion Stone contains Unfaih blood, Lorian?’
‘If Joran did not tell you, then I cannot,’ he replied. Sloane leant forwards in her chair, desperate to hear more.
‘Why not?’ Kai asked
‘It’s too dangerous,’ the elder replied. ‘Joran swore me to secrecy.’
‘A lot has changed since then, Lorian,’ Rhyn said stepping forwards, his tone sounding serious as his tall frame towered over the ancient Unfaih man.
‘We need you to tell us what you know,’ Kai added.
Lorian shook his head though. ‘If I tell you, our whole world will be put at risk again. I won’t break my promise.’ Sloane could see a hint of fear in the old Unfaih man’s eyes. Lorian never seemed to be ruffled by anything, but whatever he was hiding clearly made him nervous.
‘I already have my suspicions, but I want to hear the truth from you,’ Kai continued. ‘Whether or not you tell us, I know enough that the result will be the same.’ He flicked his eyes to look at Sloane as he spoke. She had no idea what Lorian’s secret had to do with her, but Sloane could see his concern increasing as he followed Kai’s gaze towards her.
‘Fine, I’ll tell you,’ Lorian said, his shoulders sinking with defeat as he focused back on Kai. ‘But only if you promise that this knowledge will not leave this room.’
‘It won’t,’ Kai agreed immediately. Rhyn also nodded quickly, but Sloane wasn’t so eager to keep the secret, especially if it was something that involved her.
‘I won't keep a secret from Rowe,’ she said, squaring her shoulders as she looked at Lorian. ‘Or Esther.’
He let out a breath and nodded. ‘You can tell your sisters,’ he said before he rose from his chair and paced across the room. Everyone watched the elder as he took another deep breath and turned to face them.
‘It’s true; there is Unfaih blood within the Oblivion Stone,’ Lorian said. ‘Joran’s blood, and my blood.’
Kai nodded as if he had been expecting the answer. ‘Why did he need blood from two different Unfaih?’ Kai asked.
‘Why do I feel like you already know the answer to this?’ Lorian muttered as he stepped slowly back to the table and looked down at the book again.
‘I was a backup,’ he continued. ‘The stone needs a host to work, and Joran used our blood to create a link between us both and the stone. He knew how powerful the stone was and didn’t want it to get into the wrong hands. He and I are the only two people who can use it.’
Kai smiled with triumph at Lorian’s explanation, but before he could ask another question, Sloane interrupted.
‘The piece that Joran gave us wasn’t glowing when he touched it,’ she said.
Lorian laughed. ‘Joran has spent centuries with that stone, and he has complete control over it. If he didn’t want it to glow, it wouldn’t glow.’
‘But why wouldn’t he tell us that you and he were the only people who could use it?’ Sloane asked. ‘Why would he give it to us at all?’
‘Because he knew we couldn’t use it to close the rift,’ Kai muttered. ‘And probably to get us to leave him alone.’ Kai started to smile again though as he looked at Sloane. ‘But he didn’t realise that Lorian had a granddaughter.’
‘That’s why you think it works for me?’ Sloane asked.
‘Exactly,’ Kai nodded, a wide grin spreading across his face.
‘But what does it matter?’ Sloane said. ‘We still don’t know how to close a rift without endangering the entire world, and we still only have two pieces of the Oblivion Stone. Who says that fragment we found in the locket and Joran’s fragment will be powerful enough.’
‘They might be,’ Kai said. ‘Esther’s story shed some light on that as well. The rift was closed after the stone was broken, and your mother chased a Braky to Earth to retrieve one piece. That means Joran closed the rift with just two pieces of the Oblivion Stone.’
‘That’s true, but it’s still too risky to even attempt to close a rift,’ Lorian said, worry flaring in his eyes as he watched Kai. ‘That is why I should never have told you any of this.’
‘Now that we know what the Brakys and Sloane’s father have planned, we may not have a choice,’ Rhyn murmured.
Lorian lifted an eyebrow at Rhyn. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘The Captain is helping the Brakys build their army,’ Rhyn explained. ‘He has called for thousands more humans to travel to the World of the Woods, and the creatures will be waiting to turn every last one of them into monsters.’
Lorian’s eyes widened as he listened to Rhyn and his gaze began to flicker towards the two pieces of the Oblivion Stone that were still glowing on the table.
‘We had no choice but to close the rift a thousand years ago,’ he said. ‘I prayed we would never be forced into this choice again.’
The elder was the only person in the room who had seen the devastation that closing the rift had caused, but he seemed just as daunted by the thought of so many humans being turned into Brakys. They had no idea what would happen to Ellysia if they closed another rift, but they could be confident that allowing the Brakys to add thousands of humans to their hoard would bring about the end of the Unfaih people forever.
‘We may not have to worry about the effects of closing the rift this time,’ Kai said. His voice was cautious as he spoke, as if he was worried that what he was about to say might be quickly disagreed with. ‘I’ve had another idea that we could try.’
Kai looked so pleased with himself as everyone in the room turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. Sloane had no idea what to expect, but whatever Kai’s plan was, it had to be a good one given how excited he seemed about it.
‘When Sloane and I held our experiment the other day, it got me thinking,’ he said. ‘Sloane was able to transfer the energy from the stone into her throw and hit the target harder than either of us could ever have expected.’
Sloane nodded in agreement. She couldn’t explain how she had done it, but somehow she had used the energy within the stone to launch her knife at the wall with incredible power.
‘It was just like when you fought with it in the battle with the humans,’ Kai continued. ‘You were able to use the stone to absorb energy, which protected you. But you were also able to project and release that energy in your attacks. So instead of simply absorbing the energy of an entire rift into the Oblivion Stone to close it, I think that you should be able to transfer that energy.’
The frown on Sloane’s forehead became more pronounced, and she felt more confused than ever. Lorian was nodding along though as if he understood completely.
‘In terms Sloane can understand, please?’ Sloane asked.
Lorian smiled as he turned to look at her. ‘I think Kai is suggesting that we transfer the energy from one rift into creating another. If we close one rift and open another at the same time, we might be able to avoid the fallout that occurred last time.’
Sloane didn’t share their enthusiasm. Using the stone to fight had felt natural; it happened almost automatically, without her having to think about it. The rift was different though. She didn’t even know how to use the stone to close one, let alone open another.
‘You really think this could work?’ Rhyn asked.
‘In theory,’ Kai said. ‘But we can’t be sure until we try it.’
The others seemed optimistic about the idea, but Sloane's stomach dropped at the thought of going through with it. She felt like they were about to place the fate of Ellysia and the Unfaih in her hands.
‘If we can try this before the Brakys’ next attack, we can stop them from ever crossing into the World of the Woods again,’ Rhyn said. ‘They wouldn’t be able to turn the humans.’
‘I thought the plan was to fight with the humans to stop the Brakys once and for all,’ Sloane protested.
‘That was the plan,’ Rhyn agreed. ‘And we’ll be ready to fight with them if we need to. But with the rifts open, and the humans in the World of the Woods, there will always be a risk. Closing the rifts may be the only way to stop the creatures for good.’
The Rift War Page 23